


SurfaceFell short stories

by VenomQuill



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, Chara's a good spirit friend, F/F, F/M, Frisk has magic, Some PTA, Some other SurfaceFell, These people use their titles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-01 22:25:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 32,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11495982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenomQuill/pseuds/VenomQuill
Summary: Just some random stories and shorts. They don't really have any direction, though they're all technically in chronological order.Takes place post "Fallen Under", an underfell fan-novel I wrote a while back.





	1. First Meeting- Pap and Sans

Frisk, hands in the pockets of their pants, strolled down the empty hallway. Their bright red heart locket, ringed by a blue spear charm, upside down yellow heart charm, and a Gaster Blaster charm, clinked on their striped shirt. “It’s really nice of you to step in for Mom,” Frisk commented.

Flowey, popping out of the pot in Frisk’s backpack, nodded, “Yeah! She hates these.”

Papyrus gave a small huffing noise in reply, “OF COURSE I WOULD. THE GREAT PAPYRUS WON’T LET THE QUEEN DOWN- OR HER CHILDREN.”

Frisk smiled and giggled, “If I’m going to be honest, I can’t wait until they see you both. When I mean ‘they’ I sorta mean Linda and Hellen.”

“linda and hellen?” Sans prompted. “are those the losers that run this shit?”

Frisk nodded. “Yep! Oh! Before we go in!” They took a deep breath. “Don’t kill them, please. Mom and Dad won’t be happy at all. Mom already has to clean up after other monsters in the meetings.”

Flowey piped up, “Undyne can’t come.”

Frisk pouted. “Don’t tell them that, Flowey!”

“I don’t want to become fire tinder,” the flower reminded them. “That’s what will happen if she finds you called, or let _them_ call, Undyne.”

Frisk shrugged. “Well… you’re right. Oh! Is this it? Room 132.”

Papyrus stopped. “HMM… YES, IT APPEARS WE ARE AT ROOM 132.” Without a breath to waste, he opened the door and strolled inside. Chatter around the room wavered upon seeing the newcomers. The humans were silent as they all concentrated on the newest foreign bodies that now occupied the room. The few monsters instinctively averted their gaze. This prompted the humans whom conversed with them to shoot puzzling, worried expressions at the skeletons in the room.

Papyrus was, of course, the first to be seen. Eight feet tall and wearing a suit of midnight armor dressed by a scarlet cape, clawed gloves, and boots, possessing a mouth full of razor teeth, and a scar over his left eye socket, Papyrus caught attention. Sans, dwarfed by his brother at 5’5”, was no wall decoration. With razor fangs, a golden tooth, scarlet eyes, and heavy coat, black and gold-stripped shorts and scarlet shoes, Sans the Skeleton wasn’t a fuzzy bunny. Hanging in the brothers’ shadow and most likely completed skipped over was shy little Frisk, who could hardly top 4’6”. A red and maroon-striped shirt covered their chest and elbows. Their neat brown hair fluttered over their foggy brown eyes. Flowey was held in a brightly decorated pot inside of a red backpack with black designs.

“Hello!” Frisk’s lively voice broke the silence. “Mom isn’t here today, so Papyrus and Sans took her place.”

Papyrus’ small eyes darted about the place. He held himself high and showed no fear or confusion or anything but contempt and slight curiosity. His brother showed curiosity and, of course, glee as a mischievous smirk dressed his features. “YES. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND MY LACKY SANS WILL BE TAKING OVER FOR QUEEN TORIEL WHILE SHE IS GONE.”

The silence among the humans was shattered completely by a friendly, plump brunette nearby. “Hello, then! It’s always nice seeing some friendly folk. My name’s Laura.” She extended a hand out for Papyrus. Being almost two feet under Papyrus’ height, the woman had to look almost straight up to meet his gaze.

Frisk nudged Papyrus’ heel with their own. This prompted the skeleton to reluctantly take the human’s hand. “QUITE.”

A woman near the center of the crowd cleared her throat and strode forward. Despite being a wispy 4’10”, the blonde-haired Head of PTA showed an emotion toward Papyrus that no monster would dare even think about showing him even behind his back. Her lips curled back in a sneer and her brilliant silver-blue eyes were narrowed. The words that came out of the woman’s mouth caused the temperature in the room to drop below zero and the monsters to tense and stare down at the food they had picked up. “So, the _queen_ ,” the word somehow became an insult coming out of her perfect-toothed mouth, “Sent a bodyguard in her wake? Are there _no_ humans in your household?”

Frisk was very quick to pipe up, “Oh yes there is, Mrs. Linda! I’m a human.”

Unfortunately, the damage was done. No quick joke on Frisk’s side could detract anyone, especially those who knew Papyrus, from the very real insult Linda had dealt. He prompted in a cool, patient voice, “I HAD THE IMPRESSION THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR A ‘BODY GUARD’ HERE, LINDA. THUS, ONE WAS NOT ‘SENT’.”

Linda gave him a derogatory smirk, “Then what are you supposed to be?”

Sans glanced at Frisk. He, unlike every other monster soul in the room, did not scrunch up his face and hide in his coat as if a bomb had been introduced into the room. He, instead, had a look of amusement. Frisk gave him a small nod. “WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO BE?” Papyrus prompted. “TALES OF YOUR… DISSAPOINTING LACK OF AWARENESS PROCEED YOU, LINDA.” His eyes narrowed. When Linda attempted to speak, he cut her off. “IT WOULD DO YOU GOOD TO CHOOSE YOUR NEXT WORDS CAREFULLY TO AVOID MAKING ANY POOR LIFE DECISIONS IN ESCALTING THIS ‘GREETING’.”

Papyrus was showing her the greatest amount of mercy he could offer.

Linda’s smirk wavered. “You… aren’t threatening me.” She regained most of her lost composure. “Because you can’t. You can’t threaten me.”

Frisk gave her a patient smile. “Mrs. Linda? I think it’s time.”

Linda glanced down at the young ambassador. Her response was instantaneous, rehearsed, “Quiet while the adults are talking, child.”

Sans piped up, “linda. i think it’s time.”

The Head of PTA flashed him a cold glance. “And who are you supposed to be?”

“i’m sans. sans the skeleton.” Sans held out his hand. A joy buzzer was hidden in his hand. This one was completely safe and not at all lethal, unlike the one Frisk had been shown when they first met. “i’m, uh, the _ambassador’s_ friend. ” Quite a bit of emphasis was put down on the soft-spoken title.

Linda glanced at his hand and then back up at him. Before she could comment on the use of their titles, an alarm went off. The brunet woman behind Linda tapped her phone. The brunette woman who was always so close to Linda’s side she could be considered a shadow piped up, “It’s four-o-clock.” Sans stuffed his hand back into his pocket.

Linda hesitated and then huffed, “Of course. We can’t delay this meeting. Take a seat!” Head held high and a clipboard bristling with papers clutched close to her chest, Linda turned on her heel and walked to the front of the room. Hellen sat down on the seat closest to the front. Papyrus easily cleared off five seats edging on the isle near the front. A row of people blocked them. Frisk got to sit between Chara, who was invisible and really was just an empty seat to everyone but Frisk, and Flowey. He was beside the bunny in charge of the local inn. She and her sister and two of their oldest teenage children were beside them. This allowed Papyrus to sit on the aisle seat.

“Attention!” Linda called over the murmuring of the crowd. They were effectively silence. “Now, we have a lot to cover today. First on the list: vaccinations. They’re coming up soon so we only have two weeks.” She glanced down at her clipboard before rehearsing the speech she’d practiced in the mirror, “The government is still enforcing the vaccination rules as mandatory. Thus, we should be taking further action in getting rid of them!”

Sans glanced at Frisk. “getting rid of them?” he prompted. “kids need them.” Frisk nodded their agreement.

Linda went on, “I’ve started another petition. Unfortunately, the other wasn’t passed around as intended as obvious by the lack of appropriate signatures. So, we’ll be handing it out again for this Christmas’ celebration. I expect all of you will be signing this. Remember: when we get enough signatures, we can make vaccinations completely optional for this school!”

“is anyone stopping this lady?” Sans prompted.

Frisk shook their head. “Everyone’s too afraid of her.”

“AFRAID?” Papyrus’ not-so-quiet whisper came in response. He looked up at Linda.

She curled her lip back in distain. “I’m sorry if your queen didn’t tell you this, but you shouldn’t talk while I’m talking.”

Papyrus gave her a cold stare. “QUEEN TORIEL SPECIFICALLY TOLD US THAT IN THIS MEETING, IF WE HAVE A QUESTION, COMMENT, OR CONCERN, WE COULD SPEAK WITH YOU. WE SIMPLY PROMPTED FRISK IF THIS WAS TRUE.”

Linda tipped her head in an exaggerated manner so that it nearly hit her shoulder and relaxed her stance. “It’s true you can speak up, but please speak up to _me_ and not your autistic child for a question. You see, this is the very problem! These vaccinations can make kids contract autism. Your kid is a shining example of this!”

Frisk shrank back so that they hid in their coat. Sans growled something under his breath. The bunnies beside them lost their caution in the wake of disgust at such a barbed insult.

Papyrus stood up. “WHAT, EXACTLY, DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT OUR KID?” Frisk looked up at him. Their giant grin came back in an instant.

Linda raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m simply stating the facts. These vaccinations are dangerous and–”

“I DIDN’T ASK ABOUT THE VACCINATIONS.” Papyrus’ tone was dry and slow. His eyes glinted in scarlet light. Frisk’s smile vanished in an instant. The magic within Papyrus was just aching to come out and manifest into something worthy of the object of their holder’s anger. “I ASKED ABOUT WHAT YOU CALLED OUR KID. YOU CANNOT _CONTRACT_ AUTISM. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT YOU SPEAK THE WORD AS IF IT’S AN INSULT. I KNOW THAT MONSTER AND HUMAN CULTURE ARE VASTLY DIFFERENT. HOWEVER, HAVING A CHILD WHO CAN SEE THE WORLD IN A UNIQUE AND DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE IS NOT SCUM NOR WOULD THEIR UNIQUE CONDITION BE USED AS AN INSULT. IF ANYTHING, HAVING A MIND WITH SUCH WILLPOWER, SENSE, INTELLIGENCE, AND ABILITY TO LEARN SHOULD BE PRAISED.”

Hellen piped up, “Well excuse me, mister, but I have evidence that says otherwise!”

Sans’ eyes flashed. Before he could stop himself, he stated, “your, uh, _‘evidence’_ is complete bullshit.” Papyrus looked down Sans. The skeleton quieted and averted his gaze.

Linda growled, “Hellen’s _research_ isn’t false. I don’t care what you _monsters_ did in that dump, but–”

Frisk yelped and grabbed Papyrus’ hand. Or, at least, they tried to. They ended up overthrowing themselves and falling flat on their face. Papyrus’ rage, which nearly summoned his favorite laser-weapon, turned into rugged concern. He knelt and helped Frisk to their feet. The child stood up. “Thank you, Papyrus. Um, Linda, that was really mean. Monsters didn’t live in the dump. They lived in the Underground.” The shy child looked about. Flowey gave them a smile. Sans gave them an encouraged grin. The bunnies smiled at them and nodded. Multiple humans and monsters gave Frisk the positive attention they required to continue. “They may not have lived in homes as spaced out and green as yours, but they lived in an amazing kingdom- an amazing kingdom they gave up so that they could live here. I think it’s very rude to talk to people like that- especially to an esteemed Royal Guardsman. He’s right. Vaccinations don’t cause autism. You’re born with it.” Frisk glanced around at them and sat back down in their seat.

Chara smiled. _“You showed her, Frisk!”_

Frisk tried not to smile at the praise given to them.

Linda slowed her voice down, “Didn’t I make it clear that children shouldn’t be talking during this conversation? Children are allowed to come here, but this is reserved for respectable _parents_ to talk about what happens in this school.”

Papyrus was quick remark, “AND YET YOU ARE ALLOWED TO NOT ONLY SPEAK, BUT RUN THIS. THIS FACT BAFFLES ME. WHERE I COME FROM, ONLY PEOPLE OF SKILL AND HONOR ARE GRACED WITH SUCH A POSITION AS A SUPERVISOR OR LEADER.” Sans snickered at not only the comment, but the ill hid rage Linda possessed.

Frisk took out their phone and, with Flowey’s help, began to tape the event. There was nearly an hour of back and forth arguing, some ruffled seats, multiple objects behind them being telekinetically slammed into the ground, and quite a lot of yelling on the account of multiple people. All of this, of course, Frisk and Flowey got on camera.

Papyrus took Frisk’s hand and stalked out of the room. Sans, holding Flowey, were very quick to heel. Frisk didn’t dare bring up a teasing conversation or a joke. The anger clear on his features was enough to stop Frisk, Flowey, and Sans from even thinking of a joke or tease. They eventually made it to their car and then home. The second the kid and flower got out and walked to their door, Papyrus’ car was gone with a low snarl, bringing with it the skeleton brothers. For a moment, guilt tugged at their heart. Sans wouldn’t be too happy. Despite the fact that they had been on the surface for six months, their traditions were slow to die. Papyrus still wasn’t the best to his brother. However, Papyrus had worked on his temper. That was a good thing.

Frisk opened the door. They yelled in surprise as a pair of large, strong hands grabbed them by the sides and lifted them up. Undyne’s arms wrapped around them and she rubbed their head. “Ha-ha! Welcome home you little twerps! Grr!”

Frisks’ yell turned into a laugh as they struggled to get out of Undyne’s grip. “Undyne!”

The Captain of the Royal Guard, who doubled as their gym teacher and bestie, set them down. “How was that boring old meeting? Did Pap take you two out for ice cream? You’ve been gone a while.”

Frisk shook their head. “No. He just met Linda, the head of the PTA, and they, uh… didn’t agree with each other.”

Undyne rolled her eyes. “Ugh! Linda. The racist bitch. …did you tape it?”

“You bet!”

“Sweet! I’ll go grab Alphys! She’ll get a kick out of this.” Undyne spun around and vanished into the living room. The kid raced into the living room as well and sat down in front of the television. Their backpack, Flowey still inside, was set beside them. Dr. Alphys waddled into the room. Her many teeth were bared in a soft grin. Undyne plopped down next to Frisk. They huffed as the couch bounced under the force of the action. “Come on! Hook it to the TV!”

Dr. Alphys did just that. Suddenly, the PTA meeting was up on the television screen. At first, it started out relatively civil. Linda’s screechy voice was the first to raise. Hellen was very close behind her. Papyrus, throughout the entire ordeal, didn’t lose his composition and kept a tight lid on his temper. Unfortunately, his magic didn’t get the memo about Papyrus’ restraint. During a particularly nasty spat over Papyrus’ lack of ability to be an older brother or guardian, the plates and some food from the table shattered on the ground and multiple chairs around them glimmered a sharp red and shuttered. A few of them were raised before Papyrus restrained his magic.

“Pfft. Sans looks like he’s about to shit himself. Papyrus isn’t _that_ scary.” Undyne waved a finned hand. “Even if he tries to be.”

Dr. Alphys nodded. “To others, he is a terrifying being. But he is your friend and I fear few.”

After nearly an hour of pure spite, the video ended when Papyrus, long since fed up with Linda’s shenanigans, announced that the meeting was over. Linda, on the brink of hateful tears, meekly disagreed with him. The video ended. Frisk shrugged. “I didn’t want him to know I was taping him. Besides, Papyrus didn’t say anything after that.”

Undyne groaned, “Oh God! I just realized: he’s supposed to be helping me at practice tomorrow. Ugh. If he’s still pissed about this tomorrow… ah well. He probably won’t. Oh! Uh, it’s, uh, six thirty. Something was supposed to happen. Dinner, right?”

Dr. Alphys jumped. “Oh! We were supposed to bring them out to dinner! We should be there by now.”

“Oh shit. Welp! No time like the present!” Undyne tore Frisk off the ground, threw them on her shoulders, and then grabbed Dr. Alphys. Frisk’s eyes glinted scarlet as Chara phased into them. They put on their backpack again and held onto Undyne’s shoulders. She tore out the door, hardly pausing long enough to lock it. With that, she ripped down the street, Frisk on her shoulders, and Dr. Alphys in her arms.

Flowey screamed, vines wrapping around Frisk’s arms and Undyne’s shoulders, “WHY DIDN’T WE JUST TAKE THE CAR?!”

“’Taken to long,” Undyne stated, not a wheeze in her voice. “’Sides, I was planning on running anyway. Next turn?”

Dr. Alphys, calm as could be, stared at her phone. “We’ll be taking a left turn after next.”

By the time they arrived at their destination, ten minutes had passed. Undyne, smirking, slowed to a trot before the steakhouse. “Ha-ha! Record time! I hardly think the queen will… notice…” Undyne’s smile fell.

“Notice what?” Toriel prompted. Arms crossed and foot tapping on the ground, Toriel stood between them and the front entrance. “That you’re nearly fifteen minutes late without calling to tell me?” Her eyes held a dangerous look. _Make an excuse. I dare you._

“U-uh! Yes!” Undyne knelt and set the three she carried on the ground. “We, uh, got caught up in Frisk’s stories about the meeting.” She stood up straight and bared her shark teeth in a wide smile.

Toriel’s dark maroon gaze flicked down to Frisk. She immediately softened. “Oh good! Your hair’s a bit messy, dear. What happened at the meeting?” The queen knelt and brushed out Frisk’s hair with her fingers.

Flowey glanced at Frisk. “Hehe. A lot’s gone on. Frisk! Tell her about the meeting!”

“Um, we decided on the play we want,” Frisk offered. “ _Beauty and the Beast!_ We, um, talked about vaccinations. I’m pretty sure they’re still going to be mandatory.”

Toriel rolled her eyes with a deep sigh. “She brings that up every other meeting. Don’t tell me that Papyrus and Sans fell for the bait.”

Undyne couldn’t help but laugh, “Did he ever!” As soon as the words escaped her mouth, she quieted. Frisk shot her a warning glance.

The young child smiled back up at Toriel. “He got a bit on the mad side. But no one got into any fights. Papyrus didn’t even yell at her! Or, them. Hellen came in and started trying to corner him. It didn’t work. Hehe. Is Dad waiting?”

“Oh! My child, you are completely right.” Toriel stood up. “Come. We’ve got a nice treat planned for you two.” She shot a tart glare at Undyne before turning forward. “Asgore has been absolutely bursting at the seams waiting.”


	2. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some training by the dodge master to Frisk and Flowey.

Frisk held onto Sans’ hand as they walked. The summer sun warmed the land. Flowey looked about. He was in Frisk’s scarlet backpack. When they stopped, they found themselves in a field out in the middle of the forest, just off the trail. Frisk tipped their head. “What’s up, Sans?”

Sans stopped and let go of their hand. A soft smile warmed his features. “so, kid. your father told me that you were, uh, having a bit of trouble with bullies.”

Frisk nodded. “Yeah. But it’s not bad.”

“well… whether it is or isn’t doesn’t matter,” Sans denied. “what matters is that i’m going to train you to defend yourself.”

“Defend myself?” Frisk echoed. “But… I don’t have magic like you. I mean, I can make a snowball, but nothing much else.”

“i know. but i can teach you to dodge, hmm? now.” Sans took out his left hand. “i’m going to summon a volley of bones.” His hands glimmered in scarlet energy. A dozen white bones floated in the air behind him. “dodge them.”

Frisk’s eyes grew round. Flowey yelped, “Wh-what? Can’t we just- left!” Frisk jumped to left. They attempted to get in a fighting stance. However, another bone shot at the ground on which they stood. They barely got out of the way. Flowey’s vine tapped and controlled their ankles. Frisk put the weight and speed and muscle into them. They couldn’t stand in one place for more than a second, if that, before another bone was shot at them. More bones were summoned. They were forced to duck or lean to the side or drop to the ground entirely. When they got to the ground, they had to find a way up before another volley was sent at them. Eventually, they tripped and fell back. Three bones stopped just short of their chest and face.

Sans dematerialized the weapons and helped Frisk to their feet. “a good minute. nice.  now, i saw what you tried to do. you tried getting in a sparring stance, didn’t you? like undyne? i hate to tell you this, kid, but undyne’s captain of the royal guard and specializes in offense. you’re a defense fighter. so, you need a stance that lets you dodge- keep you light on your feet.”

Flowey wheezed, “Why can’t we just work with a physical hand-to-hand combat sort of thing? Humans don’t have magic! Not even bullies!”

Sans smirked. “you want me to teach you how to be a one-trick pony like myself? nah, kid. i’m going to teach you how to dodge. i’ll let the captain and lieutenant teach you how to spar. ’sides, if you can dodge a small ranged attack, you’ll definitely dodge some sloppy punch from a bully. now, you want to stand light on your feet. be ready to dodge. imagine the attack can come from all sides- behind, up, down, and all around. keep track of everything around you. you don’t know when some snot-nosed coward is going to summon his friends. again.” He flicked his fingers. This time, red and white bones appeared.

Flowey yelped and helped them dodge. Whenever a red bone shot at them, they’d stand still. Unfortunately, a white bone was always very close behind. So every move they made had to be precise, careful, and most all: quick and clean. At one point, they jumped over a bone and landed in a sloppy roll. This left them open to an attack from the air. Their eyes flashed scarlet. Chara got them up and jumped out of range. Their soul turned blue. They hovered a foot over the ground. All bones dissipated.

“let’s leave your spirit friend out of this for now. i know they’ll probably be with you forever or whatever, but try this on your own. we already know your spirit friend can do fine. heh.” Sans let them down. Their soul turned red. Frisk’s eyes faded into a dull, cloudy brown.

“Okay.” Frisk straightened up and smiled. “I’ll try! Er- we’ll definitely do this!”

“When do we stop?” Flowey prompted.

“when you slip up and i catch you,” Sans replied.

“If you can’t?” Flowey prompted.

“want me to use the blasters?”

Flowey stuck his tongue out at him but didn’t respond. Instead, he focused on Sans’ hand. A dozen bones popped up behind him. Frisk and Flowey continued their lesson. Chara watched them but did not interfere. Frisk, smiling, bounced from place to place. Eventually, Frisk got too tired to continue. They messily evaded a barrage of bones and stopped. They held up their hands. “Okay,” Frisk wheezed. “I give. I’m tired.”

Sans stuck his hand back in his pocket. The bones vanished. “heh. you’re pretty good. you’ll be a master in no time.”

Frisk beamed at the praise. “Thanks! Thank you for teaching me!”

Sans strolled over to them. “i couldn’t leave our angel defenseless. you still have the necklace?” Frisk nodded and fished their necklace out of their shirt. It still had all of their charms on it- including the blaster skull. “good. keep it with you. don’t be afraid to ask for help. now, what do you think about some ice cream?”

“Yeah!” Frisk gasped. “That would be great! Thanks, Sans!”

The skeleton took their hand and wandered back to the road. “good. i know a shortcut.” The trees and road vanished. They appeared before a shop in the middle of the city. The crowd, too large and distracted to notice the teleporting skeleton and child, walked past them. A bell rang when Sans entered the ice cream shop. “what would you like, kid? any flavor you want.”

 _“Chocolate!”_ Chara gasped at once.

Frisk chuckled. “Um… chocolate, please. A-and cookie dough. If you can mix them.”

Sans strolled up to the front desk. The woman behind the counter prompted, “Welcome to Braums. What’ll you have?”

Sans piped up, “i’d like a cone with one scoop of cookie dough and a scoop of chocolate.”

The woman took out a cone and began scooping out the requested ice cream from the tubs before the glass. She held out the cone for Frisk. It glowed in red magic, slipped out of her hand, and landed in Frisk’s. The woman sucked in her breath, sighed, and then prompted, “Would you like anything else?”

“uh, yeah. you have food here, right?”

The woman nodded her head to the counter with the register. “Yep. Menu’s over there.”

Sans nodded his head toward the counter and strolled over to the register. The man prompted, “A double scoop ice cream cone. Anything else?”

“a burger with cheese and extra mustard,” Sans replied.

Frisk wrinkled their nose at him. “How do you like mustard?”

“how do you not?” Sans prompted.

The cashier stated, “That’ll be five dollars and sixty cents.”

Sans fished through his pocket and set down a crumpled five-dollar bill and a few quarters. After a small pause, he set down a dime. “will that cover it?”

“Yes, sir. You’re number one-ninety-three.” The cashier printed out a receipt with a number on it and handed it to Sans.

It went straight into his pockets. “thanks. see ya.” Frisk followed him as he strolled into the restaurant. Their eyes sparked red. Chara happily ate the chocolate ice cream. “knew that was your doin’, spirit. i didn’t know dead people liked chocolate.”

Chara glanced up at him. Sans looked back at them. They could see him in complete clarity. “Something wrong with that, Comedian?” Chara prompted with a smirk.

“nothing, spirit,” Sans replied with a shrug and sat down at a small booth. “so, what’s with the possession, anyway? can you just take over them any time?”

Chara set Flowey down on the seat beside them. “No, not really.”

Flowey raised an eyebrow at them. “Really?”

“Well… yes I can,” Chara replied. “But it’s extremely difficult and I don’t do it. When they ask for my help, I come. Or if there’s chocolate involved, they let me.” They chuckled.

“yep,” Sans agreed. “sounds nice. glad you’re not some sort of murdering freak, right?”

“Yep,” Chara agreed. “Glad you’re not a child murderer, right?”

Flowey glanced between them. “Uh… what are you two talking about?”

“Nothing,” Chara answered and took a bite out of their ice cream.

“nothing, indeed,” Sans agreed. “so, i, uh, want to ask. you’ve been helpin’ frisk, haven’t you?”

“I said I would.”

“then why did frisk come home with a hurt leg?” Sans prompted.

Chara shrugged. “They told you what happened. They tripped.”

“no one gets a hurt leg from tripping.”

“Frisk did,” Chara pointed out and sighed. They lowered their ice cream cone. The chocolate was nearly gone. “Are you expecting me to tell you some big bad bullies hurt them? I’d tell you that, but Frisk doesn’t like me lying. It was a hard fall. The kid can’t see what they’re doing most of the time. You know that.”

“they don’t normally get hurt like that,” Sans pointed out.

“True,” Chara agreed. “But they did this time. Sans, if you’re trying to get me to make something up to appease you, don’t bother. I won’t make up stories to appease Mom. I won’t make up stories to appease you.”

Sans started to speak but was cut off. “Number one-ninety-three!” someone called from the counter near the cash register. Sans got up and strolled away. Chara finished off the chocolate ice cream. Frisk’s eyes faded into a cloudy brown. They happily started on their cookie dough ice cream. When Sans came back, he held a tray with a cheeseburger and extra mustard packets.

“Hi!” Frisk greeted.

“hey, kiddo.” Sans plopped down on the seat opposite and took a bite of his burger.

Frisk tipped their head. “How do you eat things if you’re a skeleton? And can’t open your mouth, either.”

Sans shrugged. “we’re monsters. it’s just something we do. say, speaking of questions, what do you say about telling your parents we just went out for a game of ball?”

Frisk tipped their head. “Are we not supposed to be here?”

Sans shook his head. “nothin’ like that. i just want our training to be a surprise. i’d like to see the look on their faces when you brush off their attacks like it was nothin’. heh. tell ’em we went out for a ball of catch and got ice cream after.”

“Okay!” Frisk purred. “When do you think we’ll start training?”

“not too long, i’m sure.” Sans waved his hand with a dismissive shrug. “but you better be prepared. the captain does _not_ take excuses.”

“You’ve trained with her?”

Sans laughed. “ha! no, but the boss did. heh. don’t tell him i told you this, but the first time he went up against her, she knocked him _flat.”_

“She did?” Frisk prompted. “But he’s super good!”

Sans nodded. “he wasn’t always that good. say, have i ever told you how the boss got into the ‘guard?”

Frisk shook their head. “No. But I’d like to know!”

Sans chuckled. “alright. i’ll tell you. he wanted to join the royal guard so desperately. when he tried to sign up, undyne tested him. he dodged pretty well. but she wasn’t anything like the usual rank-and-file trouble maker. He was down within a minute. she said he wasn’t worth it and shut the door on him. but he was determined to get into the royal guard. So, he waited all evening and all night and all the way up to the morning when she woke up. seeing his dedication, she decided to train him herself. he wasn’t too shabby, but he still didn’t match up to undyne. but he was a quick learner. eventually, she let him into the guard and turned their training sessions into just a time to hang out. he rose through those ranks nearly as fast as undyne.”

Frisk watched him with round eyes. “Whoa! That’s so cool! Did you train him before?”

Sans nodded. A sad look crept into his gaze. “yeah. since he could walk i trained him how to use his magic. summon bones, use blue magic, create attacks, summon blasters, control his magic… heh. he was such a quick learner and a great student. very studious, listened to instructions, quick on his feet, and was sharper than a blade. controlling his magic, though… i hardly had to teach him once and he was a master. never, and i repeat: _never_ tell him i said this, alright?” Sans’ sad gaze hardened.

“I promise,” Frisk answered. Their ice cream cone was almost gone.

Sans smirked. “you’re a good kid. heh. that’s how he didn’t kill you. i bet undyne said he was physically incapable of murder, huh?” Frisk nodded. “well, she’s _dead_ wrong. heh. he’s a complete master of his own powers. he’ll hurt someone down to the point where they can’t fight back. then he won’t go any farther. he never has. i expect that he never will.”

“That’s so cool!” Frisk breathed. “He just doesn’t look like someone who could do that.”

Sans’ gaze darkened. They didn’t go black, but his joy was lost. “yeah. done, kid?” Their ice cream was gone as was Sans’ burger. How? They didn’t even notice he’d eaten it. Frisk nodded. “good. we should be getting back or toriel will have my head.”

Frisk gathered up their trash, put their backpack over their shoulder, and threw away their things. They frowned at the stickiness on their hands. “I’ll be right back! I need to wash my hands!” It only took a few seconds to run their water under the tap, scrub off the sticky remains of the ice cream, and dry off on a towel. When they came back, Sans offered his hand. He strolled out the door and ended up right in front of their home.

“welp, see ya later, kiddo.” He rubbed their head, causing them to laughed and duck out of his grip. “see ya tomorrow. unless you need help on your homework.”

“It’s okay. Thanks, Sans! You’re the best!” Frisk turned and trotted back to their home. For a few minutes, Sans watched as they ran inside and laughed as Toriel swooped down to hug them. They chattered on and on about how much fun they had outside and about the ice cream. Sans’ gaze turned sad. Many, many years ago, Papyrus would do the same thing to his friends. He’d boast about how well he was doing and how great a brother Sans was.

Sans’ smile began to melt. He hoped Frisk would never grow out of it. But… every kid’s got to grow up some time. Maybe pushing people away was part of that. He hoped not. But it would explain Papyrus. With a heavy sigh, Sans turned and vanished. He reappeared back in Snowdin. The town was empty for the most part. Some people decided to stay back for some ungodly reason. He strolled into the one place in the world he felt alone, he felt safe. The hidden shed behind his house clicked and the door opened. Blueprints sprawled across the desk-table to one side of the room. Machines, powered off and gathering dust, filled up half of the room. An old machine still stayed hidden in a tarp on the opposite side of the room. He vaguely remembered the queen’s throne being put under a tarp after she left.

Sans took out a photograph. He could nearly feel his soul break. The shed and all contents were outside of space and time. The photo one of the few remnants of a time before his father’s erasure from existence. It was a fake time. He was genuinely happy. He was a scientist. He finally earned his father’s love after spending most of his life on the streets, caring for his newborn brother and frantically trying to juggle time for work and time for early college classes. Then, the reward of being honored by his father, the Royal Scientist. His brother became a guard in the lab. Sans became a junior scientist. His father gave them a home to live in, food to eat, beds to sleep in, and a proper education and jobs. But most of all, Papyrus met his father for the first time.

Sans put away the photo and looked over the blueprints. It was all in a forgotten language. It was native to him and secret. Sure, Papyrus knew _some_ but never used it too often. Sans still remembered it. His father wouldn’t accept any type of communication if it was in their common language. Not to mention all of his literature that he kept to himself was in this language.

He opened his phone and hesitated. It was in camera mode. Curious, Sans leaned against the wall and opened the gallery. A whole bunch of odd pictures now dressed his phone’s gallery. Sans wasn’t one to take pictures. So, there were very few of them. Mostly, they were just photos to use for contact pictures. Now, however, a whole bunch of new pictures appeared. They weren’t professional and were often skewed or shaky. Quite a few were of pictures around the house or the backyard. A few meals appeared. A pair of socks under the couch was on there. Multiple pictures of his pet rock were there, too. There were even a few pictures of himself sleeping in on the couch. On one of them, they’d taken a photo-editor pen and drew different designs on his face.

The last few were pictures of people doing different things. For about two photos, Dr. Alphys looked through her phone with a very serious concentration. However, she soon realized she was being photographed and gave the photographer an amused look of confusion.

Eventually, a few pictures of Undyne came up. At the time, she’d been trying to show off and held up Toriel’s car. The next picture was blurry as Undyne set the car down. Eventually, Undyne found out and then they were being chased. A few blurry pictures later, there were a few selfies. Undyne held the camera and posed with Frisk and Flowey.

Later on, there were a few pictures of Toriel. She read a book in a few of them. But in another few, she was baking a pie. When she found out she was being photographed, she scolded the photographer but never lost her smile.

Asgore was gardening in the front yard. Despite being such a giant, heavy man with great horns and a frightening look, he could be quite soft and loved gardening. When he found out he was being photographed, he posed a few times before taking a selfie with Frisk and Flowey.

Next it was Papyrus, who was in various places of the house. He was no doubt searching for his lazy lacky. When he found out he was being photographed, he, too, chased them about until they got a few nice pictures.

Then came Flowey who posed a few times in different places. Then came Frisk. They posed and went to different places in the upstairs. Eventually, the pictures stopped.

_The camera shook a bit. “Flowey!” Frisk hissed. “Keep the camera steady!”_

_“I’m trying!” Flowey hissed back._

_Frisk cleared their throat. “Okay! So, you fell asleep. I mean, real bad. I got your phone and you didn’t even wake up this time! Hehe! So we just played around a bit with it. Everyone seemed pretty happy to take pictures. I even got a few of you! Too bad you aren’t awake. Maybe when you wake up we’ll take more pictures!”_

_“Frisk,” Flowey stated. “This is a prank. You can’t tell him that.”_

_“Why not?” Frisk prompted._

_“You don’t include the pranked people in pranks,” Flowey explained. “That’s the whole purpose of it.”_

_“Oh. Right. Well, we’ll take pictures with someone else’s phone, then! Probably mine!” Frisk promised. “But, uh, if you’re listening to this, then, uh, get owned, nerd.” They attempted to muffle their snickering but failed._

_Flowey picked up where they left off, “Talk to you later, Sleeping Beauty!”_

The video turned off. Sans laughed and replayed the video. He was acutely aware of the tears on his cheeks. He didn’t care. He couldn’t remember a time when everyone was this happy. When Papyrus didn’t bark at him for some reason or another. When Undyne was happy to take pictures. When Dr. Alphys showed emotion around someone other than Undyne. When King Asgore smiled and laughed and left the house. A time when Sans didn’t go outside and see someone stabbed right in front of him. A time when such an innocent, naïve, blind kid like Frisk could run around without fear of being killed. Maybe they were never this happy. That damn kid… Sans shook his head. The thought of his old family, of his father and his father’s assistants, faded from his mind. He had a new family, a better family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ice cream! My favorite in Cookie Dough. <3 Chara's is ~~obviously~~ chocolate.


	3. Auditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beauty and the Beast!

The classroom of children had begun to become jittery. The bell was ready to ring. However, their teacher was not yet ready to let them go. “Children!” The class turned their attention to person at the front of the room. Her deep brown eyes were hidden beneath sharp glasses that complimented her sharp, angular face. Once she knew the class was paying attention to her, she spoke up, “Play auditions are next week. I have the papers right here. BEFORE YOU LEAVE!” She raised her voice above the inevitable clamor. Once she was satisfied knowing that all of her students had gone quiet, she resumed her speech, “Auditions are next week for _Beauty and the Beast._ Be prepared and try your best. You are representing this school after all! Now have a good weekend.”

_Rrrrriiiiiiiiiing!_

Backpacks swished off the floor and feet stamped the ground as children hurried to evacuate the classroom. Many took the flier that the teacher had and held it at their sides. Wrinkles formed as their fingers clasped the papers with little care. Others took the paper and immediately studied its contents.

Frisk studied the paper. Flowey piped up, “Beauty and the Beast.” Frisk smiled. The memory of watching the classic movie with their family came to mind. They never really understood beauty or ugliness. After all, they were blind. So, they’d never seen beauty nor had they seen ugliness. In fact, they first thing they saw were the faces of monsters rather than the faces of humans when Chara possessed them.

Flowey prompted, “You thinking of trying out?”

Frisk nodded. “Yep! I can’t decide who I want to be, though.”

“Hmm… I’ve never heard of this story before. I don’t know, either,” Flowey admitted. “But their descriptions are here!”

“Oh yeah!” Frisk’s eyes sparked scarlet. They looked over their paper to see the rolls and short descriptions of the characters.

Eventually, they made it outside and into the crowd of students with a few teachers.

Undyne spotted Frisk and Flowey. With a grin, she plucked Frisk from the crowd and held them up so that their eyes were on the same level. “Hey, punk!”

Frisk giggled. “Hey, Undyne! You’re on duty again?”

Undyne set them down and put her hands on her hips. Instead of her usual shattered-heart shirt with a spear through it, she wore a black T-shirt with pants. A whistle hung around her neck. “Yeah. Mettaton’s picking you up today, by the way.”

“What about Dr. Alphys?” Frisk prompted. “I thought that _she_ was picking us up.”

Undyne shook her head. “No. She had to go to the lab for some emergency or whatever. Mettaton’s in town, though. I mean, if we hurry, maybe I could drop you off…” Undyne’s sharp yellow gaze flicked about.

Frisk shook their head. “No. I don’t want you getting in trouble. Thanks, Undyne! I’ll talk to you later!”

“Later, punk!”

Flowey looked about and then perked up. “Oh. Well, I found him.”

“You did? Cool! Where is he?”

“Follow the crowd,” Flowey smirked. The crowd backed off. All attention was taken by a long, sparkly limo. Mettaton’s box frame was held as a mantle at the front. Gold and red glitter and patterns made the limousine a sparkling, colorful spotlight in the middle of the day. Once the car had rolled to a stop, the door at the very back opened. Mettaton leaned back in his seat and waved at the two with one hand. “Hello, Darling!”

“Hey, Mettaton!” Frisk trotted past other students so that they could climb in. Not one person spoke to them. There was nothing to say. The very first monster TV star, and one of the most famous of his category, just picked up little Frisk from school.

Once they were inside the car and buckled up, Mettaton called, “Okay! Let’s get a move on!”

Without a word, Burgerpants made the car creep forward a bit so that they were directly behind the next car in line.

Mettaton turned back to Frisk. “How was school today?”

“Very good!” Frisk purred and held up a paper. “Auditions for the play are next week!”

“The play!” Mettaton picked up the paper offered to him. “Oh, I supposed this one will do. You will look absolutely _fabulous_ on stage!”

“I hope so!” Frisk purred. “Can you help me prepare? I’m kinda nervous about the audition.”

Mettaton waved one of his hands in dismissal. “Oh, there’s no reason to be afraid. They’ll just eat you up, Darling. But of course I’ll help you.” He ruffled the young one’s hair without losing hold of the paper. Having four arms can sometimes be advantageous. This caused the kid to laugh and duck out of his reach. “I will make sure that you look absolutely gorgeous! You’ve already preformed on TV before in front of thousands of monsters! I’m sure that a stag play with a few hundred people will be no problem.”

Frisk nodded. “Yeah! I did! I sure hope this will be just as good. You’ll be there?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Darling.”

 

Flowey and Frisk sat down beside each other in the front rows. A plethora of kids clustered around them. MK, Snowdrake, Fuku, and the innkeeper’s oldest son were there. There were still more human children auditioning than monster children. Frisk leaned back. “Psst! Snowdrake!”

Snowdrake leaned back, too. He sat to the left of Frisk, though there was a human girl between then. “Yeah?”

“What are you trying out for?” Frisk prompted.

Snowdrake smiled. “I’m going to be Monsieur D’Arque! He isn’t on stage much. But he sounds really cool!”

“Oh! I remember him!” Frisk didn’t have the heart to tell him that Monsieur was one of the characters they hated the most.

Snowdrake went on, “Who are you going to be?”

Frisk glanced at Flowey. “I’m going to be Belle.”

Snowdrake nodded. “Oh! Good luck! You’ll look good.”

“Thanks! Frisk purred.

The curtains were pulled back. A lone woman with a microphone was on the center stage. A few people walked from behind the stage to a table just before it. There were spots for three people. One was for a little blonde woman with striking blue eyes. The second was for a slightly ruffled brunette woman whose dark eyes seemed to lack color. The third was a heavyset man whose deep green eyes were half-hidden by the shaggy mane of vibrant red hair. The woman onstage leaned in so that she could speak into the microphone. “Alright, alright! Auditions will be starting very shortly. Please be quiet while the students are preforming. We want as little disruption as possible. Thank you. Now, the students who are auditioning for the play please walk through the door to the right of the stage.”

Frisk held onto the straps of their backpack with a death grip. They couldn’t see the curtains at the far end of the room that well. However, they knew where the door was. So, they didn’t have to depend on the tide of people to lead them.

Eventually, all of the students were packed into the area before the stage. Two people, one a man and one a woman, were behind the stage. The woman held children back while the man watched the woman on stage. The woman on stage glanced at the man, who gave her the thumbs up. “Now, if students auditioning to become Belle could come up on stage, please!” There was a shuffle as half a dozen kids from all over the crowd moved forward, including Frisk. The first to go with a girl in a baby blue dress. Her bright eyes looked over the crowd. Linda immediately put the pen to paper. The girl’s smile wavered. The woman on stage stated, “Okay. Now, what’s your name?”

“Julie W-Witcher.”

“Julie Witcher? Good. Now, I would like for you to repeat this line: ‘Little town, it’s a quiet little village.’” The woman instructed.

Julie, the little black-haired girl beneath her nodded, smile wide in her enthusiasm. Her eyes darted about the small crowd gathered and the judges. The lady fixed the microphone so that it was down to their level. Julie took a deep breath and spoke in as elegant and light as voice as possible, “Little town, it’s a quiet little village.”

“She’s pretty good!” Frisk whispered.

The judges scribbled something down. “Very good, Julie. Now, let’s take a turn for our next girl!” The ginger in question skipped up to the stage.

“Ava! ‘Little town, it’s a quiet little village,’” Ava stated. Her voice was loud and hearty with a pretty Irish accent.

There ended up to be four humans girls- a dark skinned girl named Julie, an Irish girl named Ava, a Hispanic girl named Valentina, and a Caucasian girl named Cassandra. Then there were two monster try-outs. One was a little rabbit from Snowdin. The other was Fuku, Grillby’s daughter. Linda didn’t look impressed with any of them- save for Cassandra. Hellen seemed show interest in Ava but, upon hearing her accent, immediately went straight-faced. The man didn’t really seem interested in even being there.

Frisk looked up at the man allowing the children to shuffle onto stage. He gave her a short pat on the shoulder and smile. Frisk puffed out their chest and trotted onto stage. The woman on stage prompted, “Okay. What’s your name?”

“F-Frisk Dreemurr,” Frisk answered immediately. They could not see the crowd. However, they knew that their friends and family all sat on the stands. Their eyes were on Frisk. They puffed out their chest and put on a confident smile.

“Now, repeat the line: ‘Little town, it’s a quiet little village.’”

Before Frisk could even open their mouth, Linda’s voice came out of the microphone she held. “Excuse me? But you don’t have to audition, Frisk.”

“Why not?” Frisk’s smile left them.

Linda, not at all wavering in tone, “Belle need to _see_ , Frisk.”

They pouted. “B-but I can still do it! I promise!”

“Are there any more auditions for Belle?” Linda prompted.

The woman on stage patted Frisk on the shoulder to usher them off stage. “I’m sorry, Frisk,” she breathed. “I believe you.”

Frisk didn’t answer, they concentrated on keeping a straight face as they walked, head held high and back straight, off the stage. They sat down on a box near the exit.

“I’m sorry,” Ava sighed. “You are a very pretty girl and I love your voice.”

Frisk gave her a small smile. “Thanks. You’re very good, too. I like your accent.”

Ava giggled. “Thanks!”

Julie nodded. “Oh yeah! If it wasn’t for that Linda lady, you’d definitely win the part!”

Fuku sighed. “I wish she wasn’t a judge.”

“Why even bother?” the bunny agreed in a dark mumble.

 A ruffle-haired boy walked off stage and into the place holding the girls. “Hey. I’m Ray! Sorry to hear about that thing with Linda. Ugh. My dad hates her.”

A bear shuffled off the stage. “Mine, too.”

“We have the same dad,” Ray pointed out.

The bear chuckled. “Yep!”

“Oh! You two have the same parents?” Frisk prompted.

Ray nodded. “Yeah! Well… his mother married my father.”

“But we’re still bros.” The bear agreed.

As they spoke, more and more children appeared. As they appeared, they gave their piece on the judges and then on each other. By the time the last person left the stage, they’d already decided who would play each parts in their own minds. Then, they guessed who the judges picked for the fun of it.

The three adults on stage walked around to where the children were and opened the door. The man stayed back but both women walked forward to guide the children out. Frisk waved goodbye to their new friends before meeting up with their family. They gasped in surprise as Undyne lifted them into the air. “Hey, punk! Ha! You won’t let any dumb racist get you down, will you?”

Mettaton tapped his foot and shot a huffy glare at the judges. “I simply need to give that woman a piece of my mind! To throw out my little star for being blind! I swear I haven’t heard a worse argument in my _life!_ ”

“I-it’s okay,” Frisk reassured them with a small smile. “We had fun, anyway.”

Undyne set them down. “You’re an optimist.”

“more than me,” Sans agreed.

“Yeah!” Frisk purred and puffed up. “We were talking about who would play parts in the play. I thought Julie would make the perfect Belle, but she thought I would. But since we know that most of us don’t have a chance, mostly monsters and people who aren’t like Linda, we decided to meet up and try and make up the play ourselves. OH! That reminds me! Can we go out after school sometime and watch the movie? W-with everyone? Maybe not at our house since there’s a lot of people, but somewhere!”

“Of course, my child!” Toriel purred. “I’d be overjoyed to.”

Mettaton piped up, “You know what? You can borrow _my_ theater for the movie. When do you want to do it? We can get snacks and drinks- I’ll host the whole soirée!”

“Eee! Thanks, Mettaton!” Frisk hugged him and raced out to the door. “Hey, Julie! Ray! Uh, guys!”

Plenty of the children stopped and looked back at Frisk and Flowey and then their family as they joined them. “Oh!” Julie started. “Hey, Frisk! What’s up?”

“Mettaton just said he’d let us use his theater to watch it!” Frisk puffed up. “Isn’t he the best? Do you guys want to go?”

“Oh yeah!” “Definitely.” “Did you have to ask!” “Thanks, man!” “Totally!” “ _Mettaton?_ ” After a few minutes of children pleading to their parents, phone numbers being exchanged, a time being planned, and multiple autographs from Mettaton, the children and parents dispersed.

Frisk hugged Mettaton again. “Thanks, Mettaton! You’re the best!”

“Anything for my little star~!” Mettaton ruffled their hair, causing them to laugh.

 

*          *          *          *          *

 

Frisk held onto the straps of their backpack as they walked into the theater. It could house a good few thousand people. Dr. Alphys and Sans, having gotten work and getting Sans to find a shortcut for Dr. Alphys, sat in the front next to Capitan Undyne and Papyrus. Asgore, Toriel, and Mettaton sat in the front row nearby. Burgerpants, dressed up in a nice suit and tie, stood by the entrance. Frisk grabbed a cup, filled it with cream vanilla soda, and took a box of popcorn. Julie and Ava popped up beside them.

Ava grabbed a cup of Dr. Pepper. “Hey, Frisk! Nice place, huh?”

“So, you really know Mettaton?” Julie prompted.

Frisk nodded. “Yeah! He’s my friend. Dr. Alphys’ friend, too. Back when I fell underground, I ended up on his show! Multiple times!” Frisk chuckled.

“Seriously?” Julie gasped. “Whoa! How? That is so cool!”

“I’m a human. They don’t have humans in the Underground,” Frisk replied. “So, I was pretty cool on stage. And I love dancing and singing so we had a really fun time.”

Valentina appeared beside them. “Wow! It was so nice of him to host this. But he’s still your friend? He goes on tours a lot.”

Frisk nodded. “Mhm. But he does come over whenever he can. He’s even delayed his next tour for this. He’s so awesome. Monsters are really cool.”

Ava nodded. “Yeah. A lot of them can get kind of rude, but none of them have ever called my family ‘dirty drunks’! Or made fun of my accent!”

Valentina chuckled. “They never called me a stupid Mexican, either. Or asked if I jumped the border.”

Frisk smiled. “Yep! They don’t really have ‘races’ in the Underground. Everyone is so different, after all. There are so many humans that are the same, though, that we have races. But the monsters don’t mind too much. A human is a human. Doesn’t matter what they look like.”

“I wish I’d met you earlier,” Julie confessed. “Where were you?”

“Mainly homeschooled,” Frisk answered. “But, uh, last year I went to school on the other side of the city.”

“Homeschooled?” Ray appeared beside them, his bear brother at his side.

Frisk nodded. “My parents and sisters treated me really carefully because I’m blind. But none of the monsters do. In fact, Captain Undyne likes to challenge me more than the other students. Because if you have a problem–”

“-you work around it!” the other children finished.

Ava smirked. “Well then you have a super cool family. Hey, my mom takes Valentina, Julie and I to the park every Wednesday and Friday afternoon after school. You want to join us? You can come, too, Ray and Griz!”

“I’ll have to ask Mom, first,” Frisk warned. “But I’d love to! Hey, wanna sit by me? I got front-row seat!”

The other kids finished filling up their cups and plates with snacks and drinks before Following Frisk to the front of the theater. Frisk waved at their parents before looking up at the screen. Their parents waved back. Flowey sat in the aisle seat beside them.

Ava prompted, “Do you watch movies often?”

Frisk shook their head. “No. I’m out training with Captain Undyne or studying with Sans or Dr. Alphys or out in the backyard with Dad or Flowey most of the time. So, we don’t watch movies too often. When we do, I mainly listen to them. It’s being with friends that’s the fun part. I watched Beauty and Beast before, though. But it was a long time ago. So, I don’t remember it.”

“I’ve watched it, too,” Julie agreed. “Anyone else?”

“Not that I can remember,” Ray denied. Valentina and Ava shrugged.

Griz shook his head. “Nope. Not too many human movies got into the Underground fully intact.”

Soon enough, the screen flickered on. Frisk perked up and nibbled on a cheese cracker. The movie had good pacing. Frisk jumped and squeaked at odd points in the movie. The beast was big and furry and scary. Ray elbowed Griz and smirked. The bear bared his giant teeth and let out a fake growl. He couldn’t help but fall into muffled snickers. Every once in a while, Julie would mouth lines as Belle spoke.

As the movie began to wind down, and their snacks and sodas were gone, the children became more animated. Frisk set a hand to their mouth and gasped in fear.

On screen, the mob of people was shrieking and protesting. Belle helplessly tried to take the mirror from Gaston. Gaston threw away her attempts at discouragement with ease. Instead, he ranted about how horrible the beast was. He spoke of horrible tales of the beast coming in and snapping up children in the night. Griz shot a look of fear and sadness at them. Ray shook his head and muttered something to Griz.

Eventually, Belle was thrown into the basement with her father and the crowd marched off. The Beast, depressed by the departure of Belle, hardly cared that the humans were crashing into the monster’s castle.

“What is he doing?” Undyne groaned. Beast currently sat, hunched and depressed, completely indifferent to the approaching danger. “The humans’ll kill him at this rate!” The scene flicked to Chip freeing Belle and Maurice. The three immediately raced to the besieged castle. Flowey hid completely in the backpack. Chara, sitting on the floor before Flowey’s chair, frowned.

Gaston and the Beast engaged in a fight. Heartbroken, the Beast merely crept away from Gaston’s arrow and ducked below the weapon he brandished. He didn’t lift a hand to stop him. That was, until Belle came calling, pleading Gaston to stop. The scene, complete with pouring rain, spread out in a fight. At one point, the Beast nearly killed Gaston. However, the hunter pleaded for mercy and it was given to him. Not long after, Beast raced up the tower to meet Belle, only to be stabbed in the back. The Beast threw Gaston off the tower and lumbered into the room behind the balcony. He lay dying, wheezing his last breaths a goodbye.

Tears glimmered on Flowey’s cheeks. Chara hid in their legs, again. Frisk looked between them in worry. The Beast wouldn’t _die._ That’s not how stories ended. Eventually, the end-of-movie miracle happened. The Beast’s wounds were erased and he was transformed into a prince. The entire castle returned to their human forms. The movie faded to black.

Griz scoffed, “So he turns into a human and they get married or whatever? Well, at least they killed Gaston.”

“I’m glad that the beast got to live,” Frisk agreed. “He got turned back into a human, like he’d always wanted.”

“Yeah,” Griz agreed. “But he was much cooler as a beast.”

“Everyone else got to be humans again, too,” Frisk pointed out. “I know I wouldn’t want to be a feather duster. But, you know, that’s with, like, all stories. They don’t like the main character dying. They like happy endings.” Frisk smiled down at Flowey and elbowed him. Flowey looked back at Frisk. “We all like happy endings, right? Even if, you know, people change in the end.”

Flowey smiled. “Y-yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this story had a few similarities to Chara and Asriel.
> 
> Also: Mettaton! Mettaton is absolutely fabulous.


	4. Young Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk doesn't want to go to any more of these meetings. But they have to, anyway.

Frisk did not want to go to the next meeting. They did everything in their power to stop from going. They even resorting to pretending they were sick. Since Chara and Flowey were very adamantly against that, the plan didn’t follow through long enough for Toriel to behold. Eventually, Frisk took to locking themselves in their bedroom, freezing the door knob, and hiding in their bed. Every soul in the house, outside of Frisk, could pick such a meager lock with their eyes closed. Though, the metal was so cold it was painful so either gloves or heat magic was required. When that plan failed and Toriel took them outside, Frisk played dead. They wouldn’t move for anything. Whenever Toriel picked them up, Frisk would slither out of their grasp. Toriel, exasperated, finally called Sans in to carry Frisk to the car via magic.

Frisk crossed their arms and glared down at their feet. “I still don’t want to go.”

“I do not care if you don’t ‘want’ to do it,” Toriel stated. Once Papyrus and Sans had gotten into the car, she started it and drove out of their driveway. “My child, I love you. But this is something we both must do. You are an ambassador. That means that sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do.”

“Besides, it can’t be that bad,” Flowey encouraged.

Frisk sighed but did not contradict them. Instead, they leaned on the door of their car and watched the scenery pass by. Eventually, they got to the school. Toriel had to let them go on without her. So, Frisk, bundled up in the fluffy coat Sans had given them, walked with Flowey. Flowey looked about. “It’s, uh, not going to take long, right?”

Sans shrugged. “shouldn’t.”

Frisk took a deep breath and put on a smile. It was scientifically proven that smiling could increase your mood. Therefore, smiling despite being frustrated would help make them less frustrated. The walk to Room 132 was an empty and quiet one. That wasn’t bad. In fact, it was nice. It gave them a moment to clear out their mind of their jumbled thoughts. They were no fan of PTA meetings. But, then again, they were a fan of their brother, their ghost sibling, and the skeletons Frisk practically thought of as brothers. So being with them lifted their mood considerably.

They found and entered the PTA meeting room. Aside from the first meeting, where they were just three minutes prior to the start, they were fifteen minutes early. They had fifteen minutes to talk with people around the food table and meander to their seats.

Chara suggested, _“Donuts?”_

“Donuts,” Frisk and Flowey agreed.

Frisk looked up to Papyrus. “Can we go and get a few plates of food, please?”

“HMM? YES. GO AHEAD,” Papyrus stated with a wave of his hand.

“Thanks!” Frisk scampered down the food table until they found the donuts. They weren’t spider donuts, unfortunately. They were plain glazed donuts. No matter; sugar was sugar. They weren’t supposed to have too much of it so that made it okay.

Frisk had just finished giving themselves a donut as well as Flowey when another body appeared beside them. Frisk looked up. They smiled and took a step back. “Hello!”

“Good afternoon,” the seventeen-year-old girl greeted, her shy smile hidden beneath a curtain of bone straight, chocolate brown hair. She set down her plate and picked up a pair of tongs to grab a donut. In her left arm was a baby- hardly seven or eight months old.

“Aw!” Frisk cooed. “They’re so adorable! What’s their name?”

“Huh? Oh. Her name is Elizabeth,” the brown-haired girl answered. Her voice had slightly increased in strength. “She’s eight months old.”

“Elizabeth is a really cute name,” Frisk purred. “Who are your parents?”

“M-my Mom and Dad aren’t here right now.” Her voice lowered to a squeak and she turned away from them. “I-I’m just here with Lizzy.” She looked so much like Shyren it was amazing she didn’t have fins.

“Oh. I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” Frisk gasped. “Um… er- do you like it here so far? How long have you been here?”

“Th-this is my first meeting,” the girl mumbled and plucked a brownie from the plate. “It’s, um, okay. D-do you want a brownie?”

“A brownie?” Frisk echoed and then held out their plate. “Um, sure! They look really good. Did you make them?”

The girl gave them a sheepish smile and dropped a brownie on their plate. “Y-yeah. They’re hypoallergenic, though. Y-you know, in case anyone is allergic to something. You aren’t allergic to anything, are you?”

Frisk shook their head. “Nope! You, Flowey?”

Flowey shook his head. “Nope! I don’t know any monsters that are allergic to anything.”

“Oh, that’s good. I-I haven’t talked to too many monsters. Um, did you come in with those two skeletons? D-do you know them?”

Frisk nodded. “Yeah. That’s Papyrus and Sans. Papyrus is part of the royal guard and Sans was a sentry. But now he’s a professor in Mt. Ebbot University. They’re brothers and our best friends. Do you know any monster friends?”

The girl bit her lip and shook her head. “No. I-I haven’t talked to very many of them.”

Frisk offered, “Flowey’s a monster and I’m part of a monster family. You’re talking to us, right?”

She nodded. “Y-yeah. You are, I guess. Um… what’s your name?”

“My name is Frisk,” the ambassador introduced themselves. “Ambassador for the monsters.”

“I’m Flowey!” Flowey agreed. “I’m their seeing eye flower and best friend.”

“What’s your name?” Frisk prompted.

The girl stared at them with wide eyes. However, when she realized they had not only stopped talking, but prompted her to speak, she put on a small smile. “My name is Maxine.”

“Oh! I like the name Maxine,” Frisk purred.

“R-really?” Maxine prompted. “P-people keep t-telling me it’s a boy’s n-name.”

Frisk shook their head. “Nah. Names shouldn’t be tied to genders. I knew a girl named Charlie, once.”

Maxine’s smile became genuine. “Really? That’s very thoughtful. I-I haven’t met anyone like you before.”

As if on cue, the clacking high-heels of the Head of PTA clicked the floor behind Frisk. Frisk shut their eyes and then looked behind themselves with a bright smile. “Hello, Linda!”

“Right. Hello,” Linda replied with a dismissive wave. “Who are you?”

“M-Maxine.” She hid behind her hair again. Frisk frowned. That poor girl.

“Ah. So, _you’re_ Maxine. You’re a bit… _younger_ than I thought. This is a parent-teacher association, Maxine. Where are your parents?” Linda prompted.

Maxine hid deeper in her sweater. Upon feeling the deep emotion of genuine fear in Maxine, Lizzy whimpered. Maxine relaxed and brushed her fingers through the child’s hair. “It’s okay, Lizzy.”

Linda’s eyes narrowed. A sneer pulled back her bright pink lips. “Oh. So, _you’re_ the mother?”

Maxine gave her a small nod. “L-Lizzy’s mine.”

Linda scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Children these days. I swear parents are going dumb letting their kids play around like rabbits.”

Maxine’s eyes, never leaving her child, glimmered in tears.

Frisk turned around completely. “Linda! Max didn’t do anything wrong!”

“I’d say having a kid before her _senior year_ of high school is wrong enough. Unless your mom taught you that having kids instead of a life is a good thing,” Linda stated. She nearly continued her tirade but the body that materialized before her caused her to scream and jump back. Frisk jumped as a black, red, and gold blur popped up before them. Maxine jumped and clutched Lizzy. This caused Lizzy to start crying. Talking around them had slowed as people turned their gaze on the scene unfolding before them.

Before them, hands in his pocket and lazy smile dressing him, was Sans. His eyes, black as the void, were narrowed. Frisk had seen that look before- once, and only once, before. Flowey had insulted Sans’ masculinity, strength, and status all in one blow. Yet, Sans looked madder now then he had been back then. “ **Linda? Want to pass that through me again?** ”

Linda, hand on her heart, stared at Sans. She stammered, “I-I just s-said that having a k-kid before h-high school is over was wrong enough!” Although Linda attempted to put force in her words, fear kept her voice from straying past anything but a shaky squeak.

Sans forced himself to chuckle. The red disks of light there were his eyes returned. The chill-inducing fear that was borne of his black eyes did not leave him. Perhaps it was because he still glowered at Linda with fire they hadn’t seen in a long time. “you might want to leave now, linda. because if you don’t leave now, you might not like the time you’re about to have.” His left hand clenched into a fist. The pocket flickered with scarlet light.

Linda stammered, hesitated, and then turned on her heel. She stalked off with a sulky glare, though fear was evident in her shaking muscles. Helen and Diana met up with her a few feet away. Sans turned to Maxine and relaxed. “hey, kid. sorry about that. that linda can be such a bi- bad lady, eh?”

Maxine, stiff as a board, didn’t answer. Frisk piped up, “Maxine? This is Sans. He’s my best friend. He won’t hurt you.”

Maxine whimpered something close to an ‘okay’. Then she struggled to calm down the kid. Ultimately, she failed as the baby felt her fear and latched onto it.

Sans’ eyes softened. “sorry you had to see that, max. you’re a pretty brave girl.”

Maxine squeaked, “Th-thank you.”

“you need help with her?” Sans prompted and glanced at the baby, who was still crying.

“Wh-what?” Maxine breathed. “N-no.”

“if you say so. you want me to leave?” Sans questioned.

Maxine shook her head. “N-no. It’s alright.” She took a few deep breaths. As her fear subsided, Lizzy was more easily calmed down as well. “Why did you step in like that?”

“you rather i didn’t?” Sans prompted.

Maxine shook her head. “N-no! I was just wondering why.”

“not a fan of bullies,” Sans replied with a shrug. “’sides, you look like your takin’ care of the kid. i don’t see anything wrong with that.” Sans turned his head and glanced about the crowd. They went back to their own conversations. He turned back to Maxine. “don’t let her get to you, alright?”

Maxine nodded. “Th-thank you, Sans.”

“’welcome. welp, gotta go. see ya.” Sans turned and strolled off into the crowd, where he found Papyrus.

Frisk smiled at Maxine. “Wow! You know, Sans isn’t that good at first impressions. He doesn’t usually stand up for someone he doesn’t know. He also usually pranks someone when they first meet him. Do you know each other?”

Maxine shook her head. “I-I’ve only ever seen him in passing.”

“Um… do you want to sit by us?” Frisk offered.

Maxine picked up their plate. “U-um, sure. Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maxine! I really like the name 'Maxine' and 'Charlie'.
> 
> Oh, right. If ya didn't know, Sans was stuck raising his month-old brother, Papyrus, when he was _nine_. He was ridiculed heavily for it. Why take care of his brother alone when he could just give Papyrus up in an orphanage, after all? So, he really doesn't like it when people are harassed for having a kid, whether rearing them as parents or as a bigger sibling.


	5. Hide and Seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kids love Hide-and-Seek. It's a staple game of the children community.

Frisk, holding Flowey’s sat in a couch in their living room. Ava and Valentina sat beside them. Ray and Griz sat in another couch. Frisk piped up, “So… what do you guys want to do now?”

“Well, we’ve played three rounds of cards, ten minutes’ worth of tag, and a guessing game,” Ray listed off. “What else can we do here?”

“Well, not too many people are here,” Ava started. “So, the house isn’t full. We could play hide-and-seek!”

Frisk perked up. “Oooh! That sounds really cool!”

Flowey piped up, “I think it would be pretty obvious if we hide together, Frisk.”

“Oh, right. Well, I can manage,” Frisk reassured him.

“If you say so. But, uh, how will _I_ hide?” Flowey prompted.

“Hmm… how about I hide you and then I hide!” Frisk gasped happily.

“No offense,” Ray started, “but how will he find anyone?”

Frisk hesitated. “Well… I’ll help him! Like, not look for people, but just carry him around. What do you guys think?”

Ava shrugged. “I think it’s a good idea. Val?”

Valentina nodded. “I like that idea! I love hide-and-seek. Who wants to go first?”

After a moment’s silence, Griz shrugged. “I’ll go first.”

“Cool!” Frisk purred. “What are we counting to?”

“Well… this is a big house…” Ray though aloud. “How about… thirty? Stay inside the house; no going out.”

“And bedrooms are off limits,” Frisk agreed. “Which means most of the rooms upstairs.”

Griz stood up. “Get going!” He turned around and put his hands over his eyes. “One…” The other kids jumped up and ran away.

Chara piped up, _“Flowey wants to hide behind the TV.”_

 _“Got it,”_ Frisk thought back. They set Flowey behind the television and, as quietly as they could, trotted out of the living room. After some thought, they walked into the kitchen and hid in the food cupboard. They moved about a few food items so that they could hide behind bags of flour and sugar and boxes of spaghetti noodles and cereal. As they were curled up in a tiny ball, it was difficult to see them from a passing glance.

“Thirty!” Griz cried. “Ready or not, here I come!” They could hear him stalk about the living room. His feet weren’t too quiet. He was a bear cub, after all. Once he deduced that there was no one in the living room, which meant he skipped over Flowey, he wandered into the dining room. Griz opened to cupboard door, thought for a moment, and then closed it. Frisk bit their hand to keep from snickering.

Another pair of footsteps, light and slow, entered in the kitchen. Sans, wielding a few books with paperwork and writing supplies, sat down at the kitchen table. Once it was separated out, the stack of ungraded papers was quite small.

Ava, Val, and Flowey were found. However, by the time Ray was found, the front door opened. Papyrus, eyes narrowed and breath uneven in a huff, stalked into the kitchen. Sans rolled his eyes but didn’t look up from his paperwork. “SANS!” Papyrus snapped. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

“baking bread,” Sans replied and looked back. “what do you think i’m doing, _boss?_ ”

“SHIRKING OFF YOUR DUTIES, _AGAIN,_ ” Papyrus growled. “DON’T TAKE THAT TONE! YOUR DUTY IS TO THE KING FIRST AND THE HUMANS SECOND!”

“i’ve already completed what i need to do today,” Sans retorted. “now i have about a dozen more essays to grade.”

Papyrus grabbed the head of his chair and pulled it back. This caused Sans dropped his pen and a three-page-thick, partially-graded essay. Then again, it could be considered two pages thick with a cover paper stapled to it. “YOU’RE STILL SUPPOSED TO CHECK IN WITH CAPTAIN UNDYNE!”

Sans stood up and turned to his brother. “don’t you think i know that, boss? i’ve got to get this done before six, you prick, so my students got somethin’ to look at before coming back to school monday. i’m makin’ a pop quiz so it’d be better they know what they’re screwing up on before takin’ it.”

“SANS! IT’S TWO IN THE FUCKING AFTERNOON!” Papyrus snapped. “YOU’RE JUST MAKING EXCUSES!”

 _“Don’t,”_ Chara stated. _“Don’t you dare.”_

 _“I-I at least want to get out of here,”_ Frisk thought back in a mutter. _“Th-they’re scaring the others.”_

_“…true, I guess. Be careful.”_

Frisk grabbed onto a shelf and pulled themselves up. In the process, they rattled some of the boxes. A container of noodles hit the ground. Papyrus, spooked by the unexpected, small noise, whipped his hand to the cabinet. A cluster of bones summoned by Sans appeared before the cabinet. That didn’t stop the sharpened red bone from crashing through the cabinet and cutting into Frisk’s side. The bones _did_ slow it, however, so that it sunk an inch deep into their lower side rather than completely through it. Frisk yelped in pain and grabbed the sharpened bone. It was destroyed in an instant. Moving through the red attack caused them to become dizzy and soul almost completely cracked.

Sans opened the fractured cabinet drawers and, with a sharp gasp of surprise, gently pulled Frisk out of the cabinet. Papyrus, eyes with in surprise and horror, stood still by the kitchen table. “hey, kid. it’s okay. come on, let’s get you to a chair, huh?” Frisk whimpered but followed him all the same. “hey! one of you kids go call the king or queen- no, the queen. she’s at the grocery store.”

“On it!” Ava called. Flowey yelled something from the living room. This prompted Valentina to go grab him.

Sans set Frisk down on the nearest chair and looked over the puncture wound. “alright. One of you kids go grab a pair of tweezers from the bathroom.”

“Got it!” Ray raced up the stairs. A damp washrag and small plate hovered over the sink and landed beside Sans.

“you’ll be all right. look at you, kiddo. you’re pretty brave, huh?” Sans encouraged. Valentina set Flowey done on the table beside Frisk. Ray came back, holding a clean pair of tweezers. “thanks. now, stay still, okay? how about you close your eyes. if you want, you can hold my hand, okay?” Frisk nodded and shut their eyes. Their hand found Sans’ right one, which rested on the table. Sans picked up the tweezers from the table and carefully plucked the wood splinters from their side. They bit their tongue and made no noise. Flowey looked over them, a clear look of worry on their features.

Papyrus looked out the window of the door. Flowey’s gaze snapped to him. His face contorted so that his fanged mouth opened in a hiss and his eyes, black at the void with tiny pinpricks of white, glared at him. “ _Don’t you dare move, Guard!”_ Papyrus glared back but did not counter him.

By the time Sans was done picking out the wood splinters, the door opened.

Toriel rushed inside and knelt before Frisk. Ray shut the door as it had not been properly closed. “Oh my child!” She shooed Sans away and looked over the wound. Her fingers sparked green. Frisk’s breathing leveled out as the wound was erased. Toriel carefully washed the blood off of their side. Their pants were still stained on the waistline. A bit of blood tainted the hole in their red and black-spotted shirt. It wasn’t visible, though, due to the shirt’s color. Her maroon gaze flicked to Sans. “Oh thank you, Sans! You such a good man.” Before Sans could answer, she grabbed him and wrapped and arm around him a tight hug.

He huffed and smiled at her. “y-yeah. i can’t leave the kid hurt, eh?”

Toriel let go of him. “Thank you again. Can you tell me what happened?”

“yeah,” Sans answered. “welp, i came home to grade papers. papyrus storms in all pi- ticked off about me not going with him to check in with the captain. so, we got in a bit of an argument. frisk was hiding in the cabinet and tried to get out, i guess. he shot them.”

“Wha- you _shot_ them?” Toriel turned to Papyrus. For the first time in a long time, a look of genuine fear flickered over Papyrus’ features.

He straightened himself out. “YES, YOUR MAJESTY.”

“And _why_ would you do that?” Toriel’s voice was level and she kept calm. That did not detract anyone from the real threat of Toriel’s words.

Papyrus answered, “HARDLY A FEW MONTHS AGO, WHENEVER SOMETHING MOVED IN A CAB-”

“This is not the Underground, Papyrus,” Toriel warned. “Are you saying that you shot them because you automatically assume anything that moves when not in your sight is a threat?”

“YES, YOUR MAJESTY.”

Toriel turned back to Frisk. “Are you feeling alright, my child?”

Frisk nodded. “Y-yeah. Don’t hurt Papyrus.”

Toriel smiled. “Oh, I wouldn’t hurt a royal guardsman, my child. Besides, I know it was an accident. Now, what were you doing in the cabinet?”

“We were playing hide and seek!” A tentative smile crept over their features. “A-and I hid the cabinet really well!”

“Oh! Well that sounds like a fun game,” Toriel purred. “You’re a good hider, hmm? Well, I left my groceries at the store. So, I’m going to have to grab them. Sans? Do you mind watching them?”

“well… if i have too,” Sans shrugged with a smirk.

Toriel chuckled and stood up. “Thank you, Sans. You kids stay out of trouble, now. Change into another pair of clothes, okay? Papyrus, come with me.”

Frisk got up and nodded. “Okay! Thanks, Mom!” With that, Frisk turned and darted up the stairs.

Toriel turned and walked out the door. Papyrus followed her without hesitation. Once the door was shut and both were outside, she turned to Papyrus. Her smile was gone. “Papyrus. I don’t care if it was accident. You still hurt that child.”

“Y-YE–”

“ _Don’t_ interrupt me.” Toriel raised her hand to cut him off. He stopped talking.

She went on, “If this is what you do _on accident_ , then I don’t want you near my child. Since Frisk regards you so highly, however, I can’t banish you forever. So, for as long as either of you live, I don’t even want you in the same _room_ with Frisk without someone else there. Do you understand?”

Papyrus nodded.

Toriel went on, “Now, you’re going to go to Captain Undyne _right now._ You will tell her that for the next thirty days, you are suspended from your duties. You will tell Captain Undyne, and anyone who inquires, _why_ you are not going to be in service. For as long as you are suspended, you will not only be stripped of your title, but you will be volunteering at every elementary school service. If you are not working for the school, you will be in public service either from me, the king, or the city. On the thirty first day, you will come to _me_ first in the afternoon. If I’m busy, you will _wait._ You will not visit Captain Undyne or King Asgore first.”

Papyrus winced but did not contradict her.

Toriel continued, “In addition, you will _never_ fight with Sans like that in my household again nor will you fight in front of Frisk. I don’t care if you don’t know where Frisk is. You will not dare to even raise your voice against anyone. You will not swear in front of them, either. Do you understand?” Papyrus nodded again. “Good. Now if you dare break _any_ of these terms and rules that I have set before you, I will make this punishment look like a _reward._ Do you understand?”

“YES, YOUR MAJESTY.”

“Good. Now leave my property. I don’t want to see you again today.”

“YES, YOUR MAJESTY.” Papyrus turned and raced off.

Toriel took a few deep breaths and jogged back to the grocery store.

 

Within the house, the children gathered back into the living room. Sans strolled in and sat in the only chair not taken. “so, what’ll you have today?”

Frisk piped up, “Um… do you guys want to, uh…”

“-play a board game?” Sans suggested.

Frisk nodded. “Yeah! That!”

Ray nodded. “Yeah… sure. Depends on the game.”

“That sounds fun,” Valentina agreed.

Ava nodded, though she didn’t smile. Griz copied the action.

Sans sighed. “i’m sorry you kids had to see that. it won’t be happening again, i assure you.”

“Do you fight with your brother like that a lot?” Ava prompted.

Sans scoffed. “sometimes. it used to be worse underground. but the fresh air seems to cleared lots of people’s minds. that and frisk over here.” He smirked and sighed. “don’t let that get you down, ava.”

Frisk frowned. “Mom didn’t hurt him, did she?”

“nah. she wasn’t lying. she wouldn’t hurt him. now, scolding him severely isn’t off the table. heh. it’s alright.” Sans glanced at the boxes of board games on a shelf beside the TV. “so, anyone want to play a board game? or something else?”

“Can we go out?” Frisk prompted. “To the park or something?”

The other kids perked up. Ray nodded. “Yeah! We haven’t been to the park in forever!”

Ava pointed out, “Ray, we went to the park on Wednesday.”

“Yeah. Forever,” Ray agreed.

Sans chuckled. “i’m sorry. we have to wait for the queen to come back. but there are plenty of things to do around the house, right…?”

 

Twenty or so minutes later, Toriel’s car arrived in their driveway. The car trunk opened, revealing a good month’s worth of food and snacks. Once the car had been vacated of groceries, Toriel pressed a button on the trunk to close it. The car light’s flashed and beeped as the car was locked remotely. Toriel, humming a soft song, walked through the door and set her groceries down on the kitchen table. They were far enough away from Sans’ work not to harm it. Once she made sure the door was closed, she walked into the living room. Her small smile turned into a confused, amused grin. Sans, sitting in front of the TV, was now covered in marker. Frisk sat beside him with Flowey on their lap. Valentina, chattering away, drew minute, intricate pictures on his head. Ava held the box of different colored washable markers. Griz and Ray sat somewhere nearby, listening intently to Valentina’s story about the Day of the Dead.

Once Toriel entered the living room, the kids, and Sans, looked up at her. Toriel chuckled, “Now what is going on in here?”

Sans held his hands up in front of himself. “they pinned me tori. i’m a victim. help.”

Valentina laughed. “Oh! I’m telling everyone about the Day of the Dead! My family celebrates it instead of, you know, Halloween. Since we spend a lot of time decorating skeletons by hand, Sans allowed me show him. But we didn’t have any fake skeletons with us, so he said we could use him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toriel takes threats very seriously- especially to her kids. Doesn't matter who, doesn't matter when. She's Goat Mom, after all. Underfell Goat Mom. That's why they skated over the fact that Sans killed them so many times. :P If she found out Papyrus' attack... this WOULD look like a treat.


	6. Snowdrift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's pretty cold out in Mt. Ebott. But Captain Undyne's training isn't determined by the weather!

Frisk slid into a battle stance. Flowey popped out of the pot in their red-and-black backpack. Frisk’s hands were empty. Blue magic twirled about their red-gloved fingers. Before them, feet planted in the snow, was Lieutenant Papyrus. Captain Undyne stood a few feet away to watch them. Captain Undyne wore her helmet and long-sleeved clothes. The sweater mimicked her favorite torn T-shirt with the shattered red heart and blue spear. However, it was thicker and reached her hands. Queen Toriel had insisted they all, including Captain Undyne, wear warm clothes. When Captain Undyne revealed herself to ‘not have warm clothes’ as Waterfall was anything but freezing, Queen Toriel somehow managed to knit her a sweater within a day.

Frisk smiled back at Flowey, though their chin could hardly be seen under the fluffy gold of the heavy coat Sans have given them. “Ready?” Captain Undyne prompted. Lieutenant Papyrus summoned a bone sword- white and sharp.

“Ready as we’ll ever be!” Flowey called.

Frisk nodded. “Ready when you are, Princess.”

“Cocky? Haha. The ice might be your element,” Captain Undyne pointed out, “But you’re still nine. Un guarde!” A few bones appeared.

Frisk raised their hands and then slammed down. The snow all around them exploded into a blank, white cloud of freezing fog. All sight outside of a few inches was lost. Frisk muffled a snicker as they heard Captain Undyne’s and Lieutenant Papyrus’ shock. Lieutenant Papyrus waved one of his hands to get rid of the mist. A section disappeared. “Oh. Right.”

Chara ordered, _“Summon a few spikes!”_ The snow exploded before Lieutenant Papyrus- or, at least, where he had been. Frisk could hardly see the black-and-red blur that was Lieutenant Papyrus. Frisk formed a snowball and threw it. It splattered in Lieutenant Papyrus’ face. Flowey helped them scoot back into a thicker part of the white fog. Lieutenant Papyrus shook off the fake-attack was ease and bounded toward them- or, rather, where they had been. Frisk waved a hand at him. A blue ice spike shot at Lieutenant Papyrus. He stood still through that attack- and the half dozen others.

“A BLUE ATTACK?” he prompted.

Frisk snickered, “Why yes, my good friend.”

Lieutenant Papyrus looked about his feet. A little over a half dozen blue ice spikes bristled in the snow. They phased through his legs and waist to keep him pinned. He waved his bone sword. The spikes, and fog around him, dissipated. Frisk shot another snowball at his face, which he ducked to avoid. Frisk summoned another ice spike. It was long and white and sharp. They held it in both hands as to parry Lieutenant Papyrus’ attacks. Flowey attempted to wrap his vines around them, but grimaced in the cold and settled on holding their gloved hands. Frisk and Flowey didn’t last long in the sword fight. Although they tried to get away, their soul turned blue. They were lifted into the air.

“Good attempt,” Captain Undyne commented. “But it failed. You should remember Lieutenant Papyrus was _born_ in the cold- relatively speaking. So, he has _some_ control over falling snow. And he can pick you and your flower up without even trying. Even if you had blinded him, he can still hear and know where you had been when you cast the spell.”

Frisk dropped from the air. Their spike dissipated. Lieutenant Papyrus helped them to their feet. “Well, it was worth a try!”

“Let’s try again.” Captain Undyne walked back to her place. Lieutenant Papyrus and Frisk returned to theirs. Flowey and Frisk didn’t have to move far.

“Un guarde!” Captain Undyne cried. Frisk bounded around to the other side of the small space they were using for training. When Lieutenant Papyrus attempted to engaged them, Frisk froze the snow. Lieutenant Papyrus, surprise, slipped. However, he quickly regained his balance. Frisk shot an ice spike at Lieutenant Papyrus’ bone sword. Another bone shattered it. Frisk spun around and jumped out of the way of another bone attack. They threw a snowball at Lieutenant Papyrus’ face. It was blatantly ignored. Frisk froze the snow around them and skated around it. Lieutenant Papyrus didn’t walk across the ice. If he was to move, he hopped or jumped. His weight would cause the ice to crack. The ice also allowed Frisk to move with less expended energy since their momentum and the slickness of the ice kept them moving.

Frisk stopped themselves as a wall of bones appeared before them. Lieutenant Papyrus bounded to their other side as to trap them. Flowey dissipated the bones behind them. Frisk shot another ice spike at Lieutenant Papyrus’ sword before bounding away again.

Lieutenant Papyrus’ bone sword whacked Frisk’s feet. They fell and slid on the ice with a great _huff._ The action flipped their hood over the head with their spear. Frisk’s vision was completely obscured by yellow fur. When they attempted to move, they found a cage of bones around them.

The bone wall vanished. Lieutenant Papyrus helped Frisk up. Frisk straightened themselves out. “Are we getting better?”

“Yeah. A bit,” Captain Undyne shrugged. “Now, back into position!”

 

The sun was nearly in the center of the sky by the time Captain Undyne and Lieutenant Papyrus let go of their weapons. “Let’s take a bit of break and then resume training.” Captain Undyne and Lieutenant Papyrus strolled over to one of the trees by the lake. They talked on the way there. Frisk walked through the snow. The lake was so pretty this time of year. Frisk smiled and sped up her walk to the snowy lake shore. It was uncertain where the water started and the land ended. Snow tends to blur that line. “Frisk!” Flowey gasped. “You’re going to fall in!”

“I won’t,” Frisk reassured him. “Even if it gets thin I can just make it thicker, remember?”

“Oh. I-It’s still dangerous,” Flowey pointed out.

Frisk shrugged, set their backpack down, and continued walk slowly across the ice. “You can stay back if you like. Besides, it’s really pretty.” Eventually, they could see begin to see themselves in the frozen lake. It was as if they were stepping upon a dusty, fogged mirror. In fact, once they got a few feet away from the snow edge, they knelt and rubbed at the ice with their gloves. They tipped their head and stared down at it. They couldn’t see anything. Then, Chara allowed them to see one of their bright red eyes, a small bit of their nose and their cheek. Golden fluff framed their chin and back of their head as well as medium-length, bone-straight hair. They squinted and lowered their eyes so that their nose almost touched the ice. They could see it. The ice ended. Right now, they were standing on water. Frisk’s eyes grew round in shock. They laughed and turned to look at their terrified friend. “Flowey! There’s water under here!” They turned to look back down at it. Chara let go, plunging them into a world of shapeless color.

“Th-that’s really cool!” Flowey agreed. “Um, can we go now?”

“What? Why?” Frisk called back, turning their head only to throw their voice in his direction. “It’s so cool here!” They rubbed off a bit more of the surface of the ice. There was a larger window into the underside of the lake. “That’s so cool…” they breathed.

 _“Frisk,”_ Chara stated. _“Flowey’s right. We should get moving. The ice is beginning to look a little thin here.”_

“Thin?” Frisk prompted. “Nah. I’ll be over there in a sec.” They rubbed their hands and dusted a bit more off on the side to see even more into the dark water. As the entire lake was not only covered in varying thicknesses of ice, but with a sheet of snow, it was difficult for light to get into the water. That left everything dark and eerie. The glare of the sun glimmered off the ice so it made it harder to see the lake. So, Frisk held up one of their arms to cast a shadow over it.

“Frisk? FRISK!” Frisk yelped and jumped upon hearing Captain Undyne’s yell. “What the hell are you doing out there!?”

Flowey squeaked in a voice so quiet Frisk could hardly hear him, “W-wait! If you spook them, th-they might crack the ice!”

“Are you _serious?!_ Frisk! What are you doing?” Captain Undyne called.

Frisk looked up and took a deep breath. “I’m just looking at the lake! It’s super cool! You wanna see?”

“No, I don’t want to see,” Captain Undyne stated. “You’re going to fall in and then I’m going to have to fish you out and your parents will literally kill me. Come on.”

Frisk pouted. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.” Frisk gently clambered to their feet and started to walk toward them. However, another shimmer stopped them. They looked down and tipped their head. Was there something shiny under there?

“Don’t look back!” Captain Undyne called. “Come on, kid!” _Kid._ Captain Undyne doesn’t normally use that word when referring to Frisk.

Frisk nodded and lost their smile. “Okay! I thought I something over…” They stopped themselves as they took a step forward.

“Is something the matter?”

“N-no!” Frisk called back and set their foot down completely on the ice. They tried to take another step forward but put their foot down. “A-actually, I’ll be a sec, okay? The, uh…. ice doesn’t feel right here.” Frisk lowered themselves to their knees and set their hands on the ice. It felt odd. It felt… _weak._ Frisk’s veins cooled even though they wore a coat. The ice wasn’t strong enough to continue holding them. Frisk set their gaze and conducted their magic into the ice. Nothing happened. Training had taken more out of them then they had realized. “U-uh! Uhm! It’s fine.” Frisk stood up, shrugged, and walked carefully toward the shore. However, the farther they got, the less nervous they became. Finally, they landed on the snow beside them with a chuckle. “See? Nothing to worry about!”

Captain Undyne glared at the ice in which they had just been in. “Yeah, let’s stick to the ground. As much as I love water, I don’t like the cold.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk loves using their magic and loves training AND love the cold!


	7. Christmas Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's that time of year again. School is drawing to a close!

Frisk lay back in their bed, eyes closed. They’d been laying in their messy black-and-red themed bed for a good hour before their phone buzzed. Frisk hazily blinked and grabbed their phone. A picture of their family glowed before being swiped away. Their eyes turned scarlet.

“FRIENDS”

‘Sonflower: Frisk! Are you awkae?’

_December 9 th 3:18 pm_

‘Sonflower: awake*’

_December 9 th 3:18 pm_

‘Me: Yeah y?’

_December 9 th 3:19 pm_

‘Sonflower: You sure? Are yo taking a nap?’

_December 9 th 3:19 pm_

‘Sonflower: you*’

_December 9 th 3:20 pm_

‘Me: No. What’s up?’

_December 9 th 3:20 pm_

‘Strongfish: We’re going out to a party! You coming?’

_December 9 th 3:20 pm_

Frisk perked up and sat up straight.

‘Me: Yeah! Where? Are you picking me up?’

_December 9 th 3:20 pm_

‘Strongfish: Nope. Sans is. He should be there soon.’

_December 9 th 3:20 pm_

‘Me: What about you, Flowery?’

_December 9 th 3:21 pm_

‘Sonflower: Flowery?’

_December 9 th 3:21 pm_

‘Sonflower: Captain Undyne’s pciking me up.’

_December 9 th 3:21 pm_

‘Me: Autocorrect, that’s who.’

_December 9 th 3:21 pm_

‘Sonflower: picking*’

_December 9 th 3:21 pm_

‘Me: You should get it. Autocorrect.’

_December 9 th 3:21 pm_

‘Sonflower: You jsut said you htaed it.’

_December 9 th 3:22 pm_

‘Me: Or look over your texts.’

_December 9 th 3:22 pm_

‘Me: Lol’

_December 9 th 3:22 pm_

Someone knocked on the door. Frisk perked up. “Who’s there?”

“ghetto.”

“Ghetto who?”

“ghetto-ver here and open the door, kiddo.”

Frisk chuckled, “Just a sec!”

‘Me: Sans is here. Be there in a second.’

_December 9 th 3:24 pm_

Frisk put away their phone and jumped up. Their eyes faded to brown. They plucked their fluffy coat off the nightstand and slipped it on as they walked as well as a pair of shoes by the door. When they opened the door, they found Sans standing there, hands in his pockets and a lazy smile to greet them. “ready to go?”

“Sure! Where are we going?” Frisk prompted. “Captain Undyne said–”

“somewhere,” Sans replied with a shrug and held out his hand. “come on. i know a shortcut.”

Frisk took his hand and walked after him. “Oh, wait. I should probably brush my hair or something.”

“right. hurry up.” Sans let go of them.

Frisk was quick to go to the bathroom and tame the mane that framed their face. “Puh! I wasn’t even moving around that much. Why does my hair get so messy?” they grumbled. However, once their hair had been brushed and their face washed off, they returned to their normal rosy self. They trotted out of the bathroom and took Sans’ hand again. “Okay! I’m ready!”

Sans strolled into the next door. However, they didn’t go back into Frisk’s room. They appeared within their school. Frisk looked about in confusion and then exasperation. “Oh my God, Sans.”

Sans smirked. “what? somethin’ wrong, kiddo?”

Frisk let go of him and crossed their arms. “I said I wasn’t going to this stupid pa-” They cut themselves off with a yell of surprise as Captain Undyne pounced on them from behind. “Captain Undyne!”

Captain Undyne laughed and stepped back. “Don’t be so grumpy, Frisk! It’s a parent-teacher thing. Here. Have your flower.”

Frisk raised an eyebrow at her as they took their backpack with Flowey in it. “I don’t see the ‘kid’ in that.”

Captain Undyne set her hand on Frisk’s head. Frisk gasped and ducked out of the way of an attempted noogie. “Well, we had to have _someone_ here to liven up the place! You and Flowey make anything fun. ’Sides, I _have_ to be here.”

“Linda does, too,” Frisk reminded her. “I don’t want to talk to her again.”

“No kidding.” Flowey stuck out his tongue.

Sans rolled his eyes. “no one does.”

Flowey hesitated and then perked up. “Oh! We got Ms. Muffet to bring donuts!”

“Oh! Donuts!” Frisk gasped and followed Flowey’s instruction as they bounded through the crowd. Frisk didn’t really pay attention to anyone around the food table. After all, there were spider donuts to be had. Unfortunately, Muffet wasn’t at the table. That didn’t stop them from grabbing a few plates and taking a few donuts. After Frisk had officially fulfilled their immediate goal of grabbing a donut, they became aware of what was around them. Chips and soda dressed the table as well as fruit, brownies, inedible lemon bars, and a few store-bought vegetable platters. Monsters and humans talked around them. Frisk didn’t bother trying to focus on anyone. Eavesdropping would only get them in trouble. However, there was one word that they absolutely could not ignore: their name. Their name could jar them out of anything they were doing and draw them into a conversation, whether they were invited or not.

“…Frisk is here.” Helen’s cool voice sounded quite close to them. Frisk’s eyes narrowed, though their gaze didn’t stray from the food table. Flowey looked at them in concern and then glanced back.

“Yes, I know. They come to _all_ of our meetings, with that dreadful plant,” Linda agreed. “I do not know why the principal allows this. I’ve asked him on many occasions but all he can come up with is that they’re the ambassador and monster royalty or whatever. We live in a democracy, not a monarchy. They shouldn’t count.”

A third woman near them, a pretty red-headed woman with shiny earrings but otherwise plain clothes, nodded her head, “Oh of course. You’re very right, Linda. But it’s not like you can do anything about it. They’ll be here until they move schools or whatever. Until then, we’re just going to have to deal with them.”

“Diana, honey, I don’t want to do that,” Linda disagreed. “We’re going to have to think of something. It’s bad enough they act like their king and queen _actually_ rule something, but changing our rules? We’re going to have to find some way to change this. We’re outnumbered here.”

Flowey glanced back at Frisk. “You aren’t thinking of doing anything, Frisk.”

Frisk glared at their plate. With a heavy sigh, they nodded. “I know. We can’t hurt them.” A sly smile crept across their features. “But I know the next target of our prank.”

Flowey smiled and chuckled. “Oh! Ideas already?”

“Later, Flowey.” Frisk flipped their head back. “Right now, I think we should just enjoy ourselves.”

“Okay. Hey! MK is over there! Some of the bunnies, too!” Flowey pointed out and nodded to the other side of the gym. Indeed, Monster Kid and a few bunnies from Snowdin were hanging out near one of the tables outside.

“Cool! I forgot to say hi to them today.” Frisk prompted as they trotted over to the kids.

They had just gotten outside and out of sight of the door before a foot lashed out at them. Frisk yelped and tripped. Their donut, short pile of cheese-dusted chips, and cheese scattered on the floor. Fruit-flavor soda drenched the snacks. A bit of dirt sprinkled over their hair. “Ah! Crap.” Frisk grimaced and got up. Great. Their elbows were red and sore, now. They looked up. Their confused hurt melted away. Beside them, laughing uproariously, were the three boys Frisk and Flowey, along with every other monster in that school, knew much too well.

“Nice trip, loser!” Billy, Linda’s infamous bully-of-a-son, sneered.

Frisk pouted. “Hey, let’s be civil here. We weren’t doing anything wrong.”

“Besides existing?” Billy goaded, bright blue eyes narrowed. He looked just like his mother. Save for his heavyweight frame, Billy’s golden, bone-straight hair and sharp blue eyes that had the promise of beauty were tainted by a constant vile look.

“Existing isn’t a crime,” Frisk pointed out. “But tripping people is wrong. Please apologize.”

The ginger boy beside Billy sneered, “Apologize? Ha! What are you, five?” Tommy was quite close in looks to his mother, Diana.

Chara’s gaze turned dark. _“Don’t let them talk to you like that, Frisk.”_

Frisk sighed. “I’m nine, actually. Look, I know you hate monsters, but I don’t see why. We’re all really friendly people once you get to know us.”

“‘Us’?” Tommy huffed. “Just like you, you little freak. You’re not admitting to being human anymore, are you?”

Frisk set their gaze. “I’m a human, Tommy. But I’m with the monsters. They’re my friends and my family so I’m part of them. That’s why I said ‘we’.”

“You know, you used to say that around Came _lame_ , too,” Jeff, the raven-haired boy on the other side of Billy, cackled. Jeff was a spitting image of his father- except for his eyes, which belonged to Hellen. Frisk’s eyes grew round and watery. The boy continued, “Aw! What are you going to do now? You gunna cry, little baby?”

Chara’s eyes turned black as sin. _“LET ME DESTROY THEM.”_

Flowey, eyes dark, looked at Frisk. “Come on, Frisk. We should go find MK.”

Frisk sniffled and shook their head. Although they tried to keep a straight face, a set face of determination, it completely crumbled under the weight of the sudden grief that slammed into them. “N-no. No. It’s wrong to say that.”

Billy raised an eyebrow, “Oh? What are you going to do about it, crybaby?” His hand pressed against Frisk’s chest. Quite suddenly, they were on the ground having been shoved and slipping on the soda they’d spilled. They backpack slipped off as Billy held onto it.

“Hey! Leave them alone!” Flowey growled and gathered his vines around his backpack.

Billy laughed, “What are _you_ going to do, flower?”

Before Flowey could reciprocate, Tommy took him by one of his petals and jerked him to the side.

 _“LET. ME. KILL. THEM!”_ Chara roared, bristling. Her face had melted so that her eyes were but black circles and her mouth, black as sin, melted like an Amalgamate.

Frisk struggled to get to the feet. Jeff took Frisk by the collar and jerked them back. “Where are you going, Freak?”

“Hey!” A heavy, if high-pitched, bark sounded beside Flowey. They hardly got a second’s warning before Monster Kid’s head busted into Tommy’s shoulder. The boy immediately let go of Flowey, who was caught by a bunny. Flowey, in turn, grabbed Frisk away from Jeff. Snowdrake fluttered forth, causing all three kids to back off. A bunny looked over Frisk to make sure they were alright. Icecap patted their side.

Chilldrake stalked up behind them. “That ain’t chill, bros.”

Billy huffed and stood his ground. His eyes darted about the monsters that once lived in Snowdin. “Yeah? Well, what are you going to do about it? I-If you hurt us, I’m telling mom!”

Frisk shook themselves off and patted the bunny on the shoulder. “But do you want _our_ mom to know?”

Billy crossed his arms. “Oh? What’s your mom going to do? Baa at… us…?” Billy’s sneer vanished. Jeff and Tommy lost their nervous smirks. Behind the kids of Snowdin and the ambassador, a tall, haunting figure stood. Although she stood in a mostly passive position, her hands, flickering in blue fire, were curled into fists. Queen Toriel’s sharp teeth and narrowed scarlet eyes flickered in the blue light given off by the flames she snorted. Tommy fled at once. Jeff was very quick to heel. Billy scampered off, as well.

Queen Toriel relaxed and knelt beside the children. “Oh dear. You’re _covered_ in food and- oh no! Did you scrape your elbows? Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up. Thank you kids very much. Your parents will definitely hear about how brave you are, don’t you worry.”

“It’s nothing, Queen Toriel!” MK piped up. “Frisk and Flowey are our friends. Friends never leave friends behind.”

“That is wonderful to hear. You know, you kids are growing up to be respectable young monsters,” Queen Toriel purred. “No doubt you will grow up to be great people. Now come on, Frisk, Flowey. You two need to get washed up.”

“Are we going home?” Frisk prompted.

“No, my child. I’m sorry,” Queen Toriel sighed as she led them inside. “I have some spare clothes with me. We’ll get washed up in the bathroom. I’ll heal you. But we need to stay until the end. You can stay with me, if you wish.”

Frisk looked at Flowey. He tipped his head and retracted his vines in a sort of plant-shrug. Chara sighed heavily, _“We should stay with Mom. Or I might possess you and destroy those runts.”_

“Well… how about we grab a few donuts,” Frisk suggested, “and then go talk to the other kids again?”

“Yeah, Billy probably won’t be bothering us,” Flowey agreed.

“If you say so. But if something happens, don’t hesitated to come to me, okay? Students shouldn’t be acting that way toward anyone.” Queen Toriel set her gaze and then sighed. “But I’m glad you have friends backing you up. They’re such kind children. You know I… I regret leaving the Ruins when I did. I kind of wished I left sooner.”

Frisk patted her hand. “We all have things we regret. But at least you came out. If you hadn’t when you did, we’d have been toast!” they chuckled. “Literally!”

Queen Toriel smiled. However, it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Yes, my child. I’m glad to have come when I did.”

They stopped before the girl’s restroom. Queen Toriel opened the door for them. They almost went inside when a snide, feminine voice piped up, “Oh. It’s _you._ Don’t monsters not use the bathroom?”

They turned to see none other than Linda and her posse, two suburban moms named Hellen and Diana, at her side. Did they ever separate? Where their souls tied together or something?

Queen Toriel straightened up. “Yes it is indeed the girl’s room. I’m their mother. I’m taking them in to clean up the mess _your_ kids made. I found Billy, Jeffery, and Thomas bullying my children–and other monster children–again!”

“We were actually just going to talk to you about that,” Linda stated. “You see, Billy told us that your snot-nosed brats picked a fight with them.”

Queen Toriel’s eyes narrowed. “That is a complete lie. Flowey? Frisk? Why don’t you two go inside and wash off a bit?”

“Okay, Mom.” Frisk took Flowey’s snack-splattered backpack.

Frisk walked inside the bathroom, Flowey in their arms. The two stood in front of the mirrors and sighed. They were very messy. Dirt and snacks and sugary drink covered Flowey’s backpack’s front. Frisk’s pants and arms were dirty from falling on the ground. One of the kids had rubbed some sort of chip dust on Flowey’s petal. Chara didn’t appear in the mirror. Frisk was sort of happy for this. They knew that Chara was unhappy. Chara could make the spookiest faces either of them had ever seen. Frisk took off their coat, hung it over a stall, and then washed off their face and then their elbows, wincing every once in a while as they did so.

Flowey dipped his head in the running sink. “Eewww. I need a shower after this.”

“No kidding,” Frisk mumbled and then sighed. “I wish I could get through to them.”

“I know,” Flowey agreed. “You’re a kind soul, Frisk.”

 _“Too kind,”_ Chara agreed with a scowl. _“Those brats are so lucky I’m dead or they would be, too.”_

Frisk frowned. “Don’t say that. It’s very rude to wish harm on other people.”

Eventually, Queen Toriel came into the bathroom. “Oh good! Here. I have a spare shirt for you in my bag and some wipes.” She took Frisk’s hand and walked into the biggest stall. Frisk carefully took the clothes and wipes with a wince before gently shutting the door. Tears threatened to overwhelm them. _Came-lame._ They hadn’t heard that cruel nick-name in a long, long time. They hadn’t even heard the name it was based off, Cameline, in so, so long. Frisk bit their hand and took deep breaths. Grief over their dead sister would not go away so easily.

Chara put a hand on their shoulder. All they could feel was warmth like a hot flashlight that had gotten close to their shoulder. _“I know it hurts. What’s done is done, Frisk.”_

“I know,” they squeaked and rubbed their eyes. “I know. I just… I loved her.”

Chara nodded. _“Cameline must have been a wonderful girl.”_

Frisk nodded. “She was the best sister anyone could ever ask for.”

Chara gave them a small smile. _“You speak so highly of her. She’d be so proud of you, wouldn’t she?”_

The young child chuckled. “I-I hope so. I’ve always wanted to impress her. She’s the best big sister ever.”

_“You already have. I’m positive of it. You saved an entire race of people from imprisonment and despair. You gave an entire country of aggressive monsters hope and made so many dreams come true. If that wouldn’t make her the proudest sibling ever, I don’t know what would.”_

Frisk nodded. “Thank you, Chara. God.” They dried the tears off their cheeks. “I’m being so silly. I have you and Flowey and Mom and Dad and Captain Undyne, Lieutenant Papyrus, Sans, Dr. Alphys, Mettaton- I have nothing to complain about.”

 _“Don’t say that. You’re not complaining. Though, everyone_ is _here for you,”_ Chara reassured them.

Frisk took off their shirt, wiped off a few more splattered of soda from their chest and arms, and put on a clean shirt. Queen Toriel knelt in front of Frisk as soon as they opened the door and looked them over. “Just a few scraped elbows and palms? Does anything else hurt?”

Frisk shook their head. “No. Th-thank you.”

Queen Toriel set her hands on Frisk’s arms. The wounds vanished. “Okay. Looks like your pants are a bit dirty. Do you want some new ones?”

“Yes, please.”

“Okay. Here you go.” Queen Toriel fished out a pair of pants from her bag as well as a sweater. “Just bring the dirty ones back to me. Then we can go back outside.”

“Thanks, Mom!” Frisk trotted into the nearest stall. They glanced at their coat, which was slung over the stall. Their heart sank upon seeing the smudges of dirt and liquid on the arms. That coat meant so much to them…

Frisk gave Queen Toriel their dirt-smudged pants. Queen Toriel rubbed their head. “You are such a cute young child, Frisk. Don’t worry. I will make sure that your coat is nice and clean, alright? So, did you two want to go play with the other children or stay with us?”

Frisk piped up, “The other children.”

Flowey nodded. “Yeah!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk isn't one to dislike too many people. Unfortunately, Linda's little cluster and their spawn have found their way onto that list. Chara is long since done with them.


	8. Christmas Pre-Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T'was the night before Christmas- or was it morning? Does midnight count as morning?

Frisk opened one bright brown eye. The alarm clock at their bedside glowed with the numbers: ‘11:59’ in neon green light. Their gaze flicked to Flowey, who had fallen asleep again. Frisk slumped their shoulders and gave a pointed glance to Chara. The spirit shrugged. _“Unless there’s breakfast waiting, he’s impossible to get up.”_

Frisk smiled and looked at the clock. ‘12:00’ blazed in neon letters. They carefully slid out of bed. Chara hopped over to Flowey and phased into his body. The flower’s sharp scarlet eyes flew open. He twitched and then relaxed. Chara was almost immediately kicked out of his body. He pouted at Chara but, upon seeing the time on the alarm clock, smiled. Frisk, holding tight every little lesson and trick they’d learned from their monster friends and family, and from their time prior to the monsters, took Flowey and slunk over to the door.

Chara phased through the door. Eventually, they came back in. _“Alright, everyone’s asleep. Mom, Dad, the skeleton brothers, Captain Undyne, Dr. Alphys, Mettaton, and Napstablook… if ghosts can sleep. Either way, no one is paying attention. You’re free to move.”_ Frisk gave Chara the thumbs up and pulled out a stray card on the floor. It opened their door without a noise. The two kids, careful to make every movement silent, slunk from their room and down the stairs nearby. Chara constantly checked between the halls, downstairs, and even a few choice places behind outside windows and doors.

Eventually, they got to the Christmas tree. Chara paused to hover beside them. _“One present each. Tradition holds only one present each!”_ Frisk nodded and shooed the spirit. Chara smiled, rolled their eyes, and vanished up the stairs to check the halls again.

The presents were very delicately wrapped and placed. To the unobservant eye, they would look like organized chaos- a pile that an OCD person would tap until the boxes were straight. However, Chara and Frisk were not new to Christmas. Chara and Flowey were not new to family celebrations involving gifts. Although monsters didn’t celebrate Christmas, New Years was a very popular holiday- if only to congratulate everyone for making it past the year and giving them moral preparation for at least a week or month into the new year. Thus, the three children knew that this was no chaos. Each carefully wrapped gift had wrapping paper that was just a tad too loose. It was tight enough to fit neatly over it. However, it was loose enough to easily crease. The only remedy for this would be to smooth it out. But that causes noise. To a human family household, crinkling wrapping paper would be nothing to exhausted, heavily sleeping adults. But the battle trained warriors who jump at each sound made in the middle of the night, it was a very big deal. That’s not to mention that the gifts for the children were all either buried or held too close to another gift or even too big and clunky to lift without noise.

Frisk finally found a gift that was small enough to be noiseless and alone enough to not disturb the other presents. A gift made for Flowey of the same caliber was nearby. Frisk and Flowey took their gifts and retreated from the heavily decorated tree.

Frisk, Flowey in their arms, carefully made their way back upstairs. Flowey held onto the two boxes. They slunk into their room. Frisk and Flowey settled down in the center of their small room. Frisk held up their hands. _“Now or later?”_ they signed.

Flowey mouthed, “Now.”

 _“Definitely,”_ Chara agreed and settled down beside them, back to the door. Flowey nodded to Frisk. The human smiled and, concealing a snicker, picked at the wrapping’s edges. It torn where tape held it down.

Flowey perked up and set a vine on Frisk’s hand. “Wait!” he mouthed. Frisk paused. “Let me open the window.”

 _“Why?”_ Chara prompted.

“What if it’s from Sans?’”

 _“Oh. Right.”_ Chara and Frisk both nodded in agreement. One of his vines pulled open the window just about halfway. It was big enough to chuck the present if need be. Frisk took a pencil from their backpack and used that as a knife to cut open the present. Within it was just a normal box. Frisk bit their lip and then held up the pencil for Flowey.

Floewy tipped his head. _“At the same time?”_ Frisk nodded. Flowey shrugged and took the weapon from Frisk. Once both of the sheets of wrapping paper had been taken off, the two gently took off the lids of the presents. Inside, they found a lump of black charcoal. Frisk looked over theirs. A note inside read: _“get owned, nerd”_. Flowey held up his note, which was the same thing.

“Is this…?” Frisk muttered and then shut their mouth tight.

“surprised? aren’t naughty kids supposed to get coal from _Sans_ ta?”

The trio of kids screamed and jumped. Sans, dressed in a Santa costume very expertly tailored by his brother, stood between them and the open windowsill. Flowey’s round eyes turned on Sans. He hissed, face contorting into the jagged toothed, black-eyed scary-face he liked to wear to spook people away. “Why the f–”

“he’s climbin’ through your windows~!” Sans purred, cutting off Flowey, and chuckled.

The door flashed open. Queen Toriel, dressed only in loose, snowflake pajamas, stood at the door. One hand was alight in crystal blue flame. Her wild eyes darted about. King Asgore, trident in hand, stood behind her. He wore plain bluish robes. Captain Undyne, donned in a shirt that was basically a bra and shorts whose legs were intentionally torn, held a spear. Lieutenant Papyrus, too, wore only a loose shirt and pants. Mettaton, currently a box, held his canon at ready. Napstablook and Dr. Alphys were somewhere behind them. Flowey’s face returned to normal.

Upon seeing that there was no apparent danger, their weapons and magic fizzled out as did their stances. Queen Toriel prompted, “What is going _on_ here?”

“Yeah, what the fuck Sans? We’re trying to sleep,” Captain Undyne grumbled. Queen Toriel didn’t bother scolding her for bad language.

Sans shrugged and winked, “i just came to say hello to two nosy little sneaks.”

Chara groaned. _“Sans!”_

Frisk set a hand on their heart. “Sans, you scared us half to death! At least tell us before trying to give us heart attacks!”

Sans raised an eyebrow. “kid, i did warn you. in the note in that present you weren’t supposed to open ’til tonight.”

“This was over a _fucking_ present?” Captain Undyne growled and huffed. “Good-fucking-night. Don’t wake me up again!” The door to the guest room Captain Undyne was in slammed shut. Lieutenant Papyrus, with a few dark swears, meandered to his room, too. Mettaton shrugged and followed Blooky back to their room.

Queen Toriel crossed her arms and turned her irritation to the two children. She stepped inside so that King Asgore, equally as disappointed, if a bit intrigued, could enter. “Now, children, what is this nonsense?” Queen Toriel prompted.

Frisk smiled. “We, uh, just, uh…” They glanced at Flowey. Flowey stayed silent. They continued, “We just snuck downstairs to see if we could swipe a present without waking everyone up.”

“But you’re here,” King Asgore stated. “Are you trying to tell us that you two went downstairs, found those two things, and then came back up here without waking anyone?”

“Yes,” Frisk replied. “Well, we didn’t know _he_ woke up.”

“heh,” Sans smirked. “only works if there are no witnesses. or people that are paid off enough to not be witnesses.”

Queen Toriel shot a glare at King Asgore. “Don’t encourage them! Whether they woke up, went all the way across the house, _stole_ two presents, and came back up here without waking most anyone up is irrelevant. What’s relevant is they took those presents before they were supposed to.”

King Asgore put on a smile. “Tori, they’re nine. I think that was pretty impressive.”

Queen Toriel huffed in a temper. “King Asgore! They might be young, but it was still wrong.”

“I completely agree,” King Asgore agreed with a shrug of his massive shoulders. “Sans, how did you catch them?”

“trapped,” Sans replied with a wink. “i knew they’d grab those ones. and i waited for them to react to it.”

“Well! Looks like a lesson well learnt,” King Asgore agreed. “Don’t take the low-hanging fruit? Ah but your mother _is_ right. You did do something wrong so there should be a punishment. But… it’s Christmas. Let’s wait until tomorrow, hmm? Now go to bed, you two. Good night.”

Queen Toriel pouted but gave no indication to contradict him. “You, too, Sans.”

“no prob,” Sans tipped his red hat and sauntered out of their room. The door shut behind him.

Frisk glanced at Flowey. “Well… that was almost a win.”

Flowey grinned. “Talk about a great first try!”

“Next time for sure!” Frisk cackled in agreement.

“We heard that!” their mother called.

Frisk and Flowey decided to go back to bed.

*          *          *          *          *

Frisk twitched their nose as a soft, warm breath puffed over their face. A chill nipped at their nose upon its passing. Frisk’s eyes fluttered open. Flowey slept peacefully beside them. The rest of the room was white and brown. Frisk blinked and looked about. Quite suddenly, they realized _why_ their room had turned white. They weren’t in their room at all. They couldn’t fully process this before the blanket was torn off of them and the mattress flipped over. The two children shrieked as they landed face-first into nearly a foot of snow. Yelping and gasping in cold and shock, Frisk got to their feet and shook themselves off. They snatched Flowey from the snow.

Captain Undyne, howling with laughter, held their bed in her arms. Lieutenant Papyrus cackled gleefully as well. “Fu-hu-hu! Get owned, nerds!” she cried.

Frisk looked about with dazed eyes. “Huh? What’s going on?”

“MERRY CHRISTMAS, HUMAN, FLOWEY!” Lieutenant Papyrus greeted.

Frisk glanced at Flowey. He shook off the snow and sputtered as one of his snowy petals slapped him in the face. Frisk joined into Captain Undyne’s laughter.

“Children!” Queen Toriel cried. “Are you doing tormenting them, Captain? Lieutenant Papyrus?”

“We-e’re coming!” Captain Undyne called back, a laugh still caught in her voice.

“Coming, Mom!” Frisk darted under their feet and rushed inside, Flowey held tight in their arms. The two monsters trotted back inside as well.

“Put their bed back, please,” Queen Toriel requested and held a large tray of cinnamon rolls. King Asgore passed out a great amount of tea and eggs.

“Yes, Ma’am!” Captain Undyne, bed under her arms like a stuffed animal, raced up the stairs. Lieutenant Papyrus, folded blanket and two pillows in his arms, followed.

“Good morning, Children,” Queen Toriel purred.

“For a second time,” King Asgore agreed.

Frisk puffed out their chest. “Good morning! Well, technically, we only _formally_ greeted each other once today.”

The king chuckled and stood up straight. “You two are little rascals.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't an actual tradition. I thought it'd be cute, is all. frisk doesn't mean anything bad by it. They love a good challenge and fun.


	9. Car Accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cars are extremely convenient- but also extremely dangerous. A car in the ice and snow is nothing to be taken lightly.

Ice and snow blanketed the streets, cars, houses, and sidewalks. Not too many people walked about outside. Those who did were bundled up in heavy clothes. Frisk, Flowey huddled in their coat, were no exception to this rule. Frisk’s walk a bit slower than normal as they took in the swirling snow and reminisced on memories associated with the cold whiteness they’d found underground.

“Ugh. It’s so cold. We should probably hurry it up a bit,” Flowey complained.

“Oh. Right.” Frisk nodded and picked up their pace. “We should get home. I can show Captain Undyne and Lieutenant Papyrus how good I am in the snow!” Frisk puffed up and smirked.

Flowey nodded. “That is so cool! I-” Flowey cut himself off. They stopped. In the middle of the road was Billy, Jeff, and Tommy. One bunny was on the ground under them. Billy held up one with ease. The third was crouching over the one on the ground. Although she tried looking brave, fear was evident in her flat ears, wide eyes, and twitching nose.

“…want your money. Come on, rabbit brat!” Billy growled.

Jeff huffed, “Do you think they even _have_ money?”

“There are, like, a bazillion of them,” Tommy countered. “At least one is bound to have _something_.”

“Hey!” Frisk called. Frisk couldn’t see anything but white through the snow. Thus, the group was all but invisible. Frisk sped up their pace to meet the kids in the road. “Let go of them!”

The bunnies and bullies turned their attention to them. A look of relief fell over the monsters. Billy sneered. “Oh? Crybaby to the rescue. What are you going to do about it?”

Jeff cut in, “Just leave us alone, if you know what’s good for you.”

Frisk shook their head. “Let’s just get out of the road. It’s dangerous here,” Frisk tried. “We can talk about this on the sidewalk.”

“No one drives here, idiot,” Jeff snorted.

Flowey looked about the cars parked on the side of the road. “There are cars all over the place.”

Frisk nodded. “Yeah! So, it’s really dangerous here! Please let go of the them and get out of the road.”

“Yeah and they go, like, two miles an hour,” Tommy agreed.

Billy looked between his two friends. “You know, maybe that little brat is right.” He dropped the bunny. The kid bounded back and rubbed his neck. “They’re an ambassador. Maybe they’ve got more on them.”

Frisk waved their hands. The bunnies nodded and raced away. They turned back to Billy, Jeff, and Tommy. “Look, we really don’t want any trouble. Just drop this. You’re not poor. You guys shouldn’t be thieves. It’s wrong.”

Billy’s hand gripped Frisk’s shirt and tore them forward. Frisk yelped and struggled in their hands. Linda’s brat laughed, “You’re pathetic. No wonder you don’t have a human family. No one would want a wimp like you.”

Frisk shook their head. “Plenty of people love me, Billy. I know that. I love my monster family. A human being with a monster family or a monster being with a human family isn’t anything to be ashamed of.”

“Right. Now, hand over your money, monster brat, or we’ll just have to take it from you.”

Tommy nodded. He looked to the left and jumped. A car raced around the corner. He screamed and raced away. “CAR!” He nearly ran into the innkeeper from Snowdin, who had come to intervene after her three children were attacked.

Jeff ran in the opposite direction. Frisk wriggled out of Billy’s grasp and ran out of the road. The car’s wheels screeched as the driver, distracted and driving too fast, attempted to stop before hitting Billy, who had completely frozen in the middle of the street. Frisk dropped Flowey on the sidewalk, ran forward and shoved Billy to get him moving. Instead, they just managed to throw Billy out of the way of the car. _SCRRRREEEEECH!_

 

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._ Beeping and whirring of various machines met them. Frisk opened one eye. White and silver surrounded them. Multiple colors from different lights on the machines flashed. Beside them was a nightstand covered in cards, little treats, and stuffed animals. Most of them were little dragons of assorted colors and patterns, but one of them was a stuffed bear. Sitting in the seat nearby was the massive form of King Asgore. He looked down at the paperwork in his lap. Occasionally, he’d write something down.

Frisk blinked and woke up completely. “Dad…?”

King Asgore jumped. His attention snapped to Frisk. “Oh! Frisk! You’re awake!” He set down his paperwork on the ground under his chair. He brought out his massive phone, typed in a few letters, and then put it away. “How are you feeling?” His massive hand brushed the bed by their shoulder.

“Okay, I guess.” Frisk yawned and winced. Their chest hurt. “What happened?”

“You were hit by a car,” King Asgore explained. “You cracked a few ribs and hurt your leg and head.”

“How’s Billy?” Frisk prompted.

King Asgore’s gaze darkened. “He’s completely fine. Not even a scratch.”

“Wh-what about the car?”

“The front was a bit dented,” King Asgore explained. “But Captain Undyne ruined the front and the engine completely when she threw the car off you. That driver is in for a few scrapes.”

The door opened. Queen Toriel, Flowey’s pot in her arms, walked into the room. “My child!” she breathed and raced to their other side. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay. My chest hurts a bit, though,” Frisk replied. “B-but I’m fine.”

“Fine,” Queen Toriel sighed. “You are a very brave child.”

Flowey nodded. “I-I can’t believe you did that! You saved his life! If the car hit _him_ it would’ve definitely done much worse since he’s bigger and all. You’re a real hero, Frisk!”

Chara, who sat cross-legged on the foot of their bed, nodded. _“You’re an interesting kid.”_

Frisk smiled. “Thank you! I’m glad he didn’t get hurt.”

“Why?” Although Queen Toriel tried to keep a neutral tone, bitterness was hidden beneath it.

“Because he’d have gotten hurt worse,” Frisk replied. “I don’t like him, but I don’t want him to get hit by a car. Maybe, if he sees how kind we were, he won’t be so mean.”

“You literally said that about Sans,” Flowey pointed out.

“And he turned out to be nice!” Frisk agreed. They winced upon moving too much in their enthusiasm. “And I didn’t die.”

“You didn’t die?” Queen Toriel prompted. “Did Sans… try to kill you?”

Frisk shook their head. “No.”

As if on cue, the door opened. Lieutenant Papyrus strode into the room, Sans in his shadow. Captain Undyne somehow managed to get into the room before him despite being behind him. Dr. Alphys, bag in her hands, shuffled in after them.

Frisk’s face lit up and they waved. “Hey!” They winced in the pain of her chest and shoulder and lowered their arm.

“HELLO, HUMAN! YOU HAVE INJURED MULTIPLE BONES. IT SEEMS YOUR SKIN DIDN’T PROTECT YOU LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE. HOW ARE YOU FEELING?”

“Well, thank you!” Frisk purred. “Better now that you guys are here.”

Captain Undyne laughed, “That’s my little soldier! No measly car could take you down!”

King Asgore piped up, “Everyone left you cards, if you want to read them.”

“Yes, please!” Frisk squeaked and turned to look at King Asgore. “Can I sit up? Or do I have to stay laying down?”

Queen Toriel dipped her head to look on the side of the bed. “The doctor said that this bed moves to let you sit up.” She fiddled with something on the side. The bed growled and shifted so that front top half could shift forward to create an angle with the horizontal bottom half. Once Frisk was mostly sitting up, the bed stopped moving.

“Thanks, Mom!” they purred and turned to King Asgore. He held a good dozen or so cards.

“Oh! Mine first!” Captain Undyne called and bounced on her heels. King Asgore chuckled and shuffled through the small pile. The first one he presented was gray with a silly red dragon on it. He was currently sitting on a pile of treasure. The words ‘GET WELL SOON’ decorated the front. When they opened it up, a bunch of words were written in fancy cursive. Frisk’s eyes turned red. ‘We hope you feel your usual self again in no time. We miss you! Get well soon!’ Written in the margins in fancy, large letters were the words: ‘You better get well soon, punk! Your flower is boring by himself! -Captain Undyne’. Frisk laughed, “Aw! Thank you, Captain Undyne! It’s so pretty!”

Captain Undyne puffed out her chest in pride. “Nothing but the best from me.”

The second card King Asgore gave them was decorated by a fuzzy yellow puppy popping its head out of a box. ‘GET WELL SOON’ decorated the bottom half of the card. When they opened it, they found a minimal amount of factory-borne writing. ‘We hope you get well soon! Best of wishes from the people who love you!’ Written in small letters under it were the words: ‘get better, kid. when i said to break a leg, i didn’t mean it literally. -sans’ Frisk snickered. “Oh, my goodness! I should remember that.”

“Remember what?” Queen Toriel prompted and looked over the card. “Sans!”

Sans shrugged. “i’m not lyin’.”

The next card, just like the first two, said ‘GET WELL SOON’ on the front. In fact, most of them did. This one had a bright white dandelion on it. When they opened it up, the first part was covered in curly text. ‘Hope this happy get-well note, Adds sunshine to your day, And shows you that you’re thought of, In a warm and special way!’ Flowey’s messy, if controlled, writing decorated the other side. ‘I hope you get better soon! There’s a wish flower on this card, so that you can make a wish. I wish for you to get better! -Flowey’

“Aw!” Frisk cooed. “Thank you, Flowey! That’s so nice!”

Flowey grinned.

The next card was decorated by a baby red dragon with a cute golden doubloon in its mouth. ‘Get well soon!’ was written in straight letters on one side. On the other side, curly, meticulous writing printed upon the page. ‘Your ribs were fractured as was your leg. You got slight head trauma. However, your soul was very strong. So, it is predicted that you will indeed make a speedy recovery. I apologize for not having a lab to take you to. It is still under construction. -Dr. Alphys’.

“That’s good to hear!” Frisk purred. “I hope you get your lab done soon, Dr. Alphys.”

A slight smile brightened Dr. Alphys’ features. “I hope so, too. I hope that these human doctors discharge you soon.”

The next card was a bear who had a cast on his arm and his leg with bandages around his head and a crutch. ‘GET WELL SOON’ was written on the bandages on the bear’s head. The inside said: ‘Sending a bunch of bright wishes for you to feel better soon!’ Written in large, printed letters were the words: ‘I WILL NOT SAY GET WELL SOON AS THAT IS NOT SOON ENOUGH. GET WELL NOW. -THE GREAT LIEUTENANT PAPYRUS’ Frisk laughed. “Aw! I’ll try, Lieutenant Papyrus!”

The next card had a fluffy brown and white puppy playing on top of a white puppy, who was laying down. ‘GET WELL SOON!’ was in a speech bubble above the brown and white puppy. The inside read: ‘Sending lots of love your way for a speedy recovery!’ Curling, large letters dominated the other half of the card. ‘We all love you very deeply, my child. I hope that you get better soon. I can’t wait to scold you for sliding down the stairwell again! -Queen Toriel Dreemurr.’ Written below that in smaller letters were the words: ‘P.S. Please refrain from sliding down the stairwell.’

Frisk laughed and nodded. “I-I’ll try not to!”

Queen Toriel raised an eyebrow at them, though there was no way her smile was leaving her. “You better, little one!”

The next card held a garden of flowers on the front of it. Inside, it stated: ‘Roses are red, ~~Violets~~ Irises are blue. I’m sorry you hurt your head, We wish ‘Get Well Soon’ to you!’ In large, thick letters were the words: ‘You certainly have the stuff to be a soldier! Bravery, toughness, standing up for the weak, and showing mercy when you need to. Though, I hope you don’t get hit by a car again. We hope you mend up soon enough! -King Asgore Dreemurr’.

Frisk gasped and looked up at King Asgore with round eyes. “Thank you, Dad!”

King Asgore chuckled, “Oh it’s probably nothing you haven’t heard before. You are going to grow up to be the best! Right next to Captain Undyne and Lieutenant Papyrus!”

Frisk beamed and flashed a glance at their flower friend and the royal guards at the foot of their bed. Captain Undyne smirked. “Definitely! No doubt about it.”

“I, THE GREAT LIEUTENANT PAPYRUS, AM CERTAIN OF THIS FACT!” Lieutenant Papyrus agreed.

Frisk looked at their cards and then the ones in King Asgore’s hand. “Who sent those?”

“Let’s find out, shall we?” King Asgore plucked the one off the top and handed it to them. “Do you want to read it out loud?”

Frisk nodded. Their eyes turned a dull brown again. They looked down at the card. It looked like it was once a picture of a flower, but it had been painted over with a lizard on a skateboard. Flowey read aloud, “Get well soon so that I can come over and bother you!” Flowey’s eyes flicked to the very messy writing on the other side. They squinted to take it in. “‘Hope you get better soon! You sure showed that… brat-’” Flowey had no trouble understanding the word between ‘that’ and ‘brat’ but still refused to say it. “‘-who’s the boss. See you at school! -MK.’”

Frisk gasped, “Aw! MK is so cool!”

The next card had a picture of bunnies on it. Flowey continued, “Here’s a gift to give you a lift! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!” On the other side was the handwriting of so many bunnies, the entire inside of the card was taken up. “‘Thank you for taking care of my children. You’re always welcome at our house. I know it’s not much, but a discount for you and your family at my inn.’ … ‘My wife told me what happened. I was so shocked I had to go and see for myself. The papers are all about you two!’ … ‘You’re a brave young kid. We really respect that. Our children really look up to you. You can come over for some cinnabunnies or bicicles any time.’ … ‘Thanks for helping us out! My sisters really don’t like fighting and I’m the best of us! But I’m still kinda wimpy. Thanks for saving us!’ … ‘I’m no good at fighting. Mom trained us. But since we’ve been on the surface a while, I kinda forgot. But we’re going back into training now!’ … ‘I thought I was going to be a fighter, like my dad and older bro. But after my little sister got hurt, I realized that I kind of want to be a doctor. Thanks for helping us out. Maybe when we get older, I can repay you!’ … ‘Thanks for helping out our cousins. The one time I’m not stalking them to make sure they’re safe, huh? You and Flowey are the best. Everything they say about you guys is true!’ … ‘So, we’re kind of running out of room on this page. But thanks! Our cousins are super grateful, so are we.’ … ‘So, our cousins came home all panicky and stuff and said you got hurt saving them! That’s super brave of you! I’ll make sure everyone at school knows what you guys did.’ … ‘I heard you guys were best friends with Captain Undyne and Lieutenant Papyrus. I know you’re the ambassador and he’s a flower and all, but it would be super awesome to have such cool people in the royal guard.’ -The Cinnafamily.”

Frisk smiled and chuckled. “Oh my goodness! These people are all so nice. I’m so glad I got to meet them.”

Frisk got many cards from other monsters, such as Snowdrake, Ice cap, a multitude of people from Waterfall, Hotland, the Core, and even some humans. Even Muffet sent a card containing a coupon for a donut. It was only a ten percent discount, but it was amazing seeing as coupons were nonexistent in her parlor. The last card was the most surprising.

The card was made of plain paper. It wasn’t store bought. ‘GET WELL SOON- Frisk’ was written on it in plain letters. A half-hearted dog was drawn on it in pen. Flowey read aloud, “Sorry. -Billy Hamilton.”

Frisk stared at the plain card with round eyes. For a moment, they couldn’t understand the signature. Billy Hamilton, the leader of the small bully gang, Linda’s son, just sent an apology letter to them. “Oh my goodness. That’s so nice of him.”

“He only said one word,” Captain Undyne pointed out. Frisk didn’t look up. They knew the mood dropped slightly upon hearing Billy’s name read aloud.

“But he never apologizes to anyone,” Frisk pointed out. “He just apologized to me! That means he’s getting better. Even though his mom is mean. That means that maybe he won’t be so mean anymore!” An exuberant light that everyone recognized as Frisk’s personal this-guy-who-tried-to-kill-me-isn’t-going-to-be-mean-anymore-because-we-helped-him expression.

Sans shrugged. “i wouldn’t hold your breath, kid. that brat is bad to the bone, if you ask me.” Lieutenant Papyrus didn’t comment, though he made a low growling noise to express his disdain at the pun.

Frisk shrugged and closed the card. “You never know. Sometimes, people don’t mean to be mean. It’s just how they were raised. If they know that they can act differently, and that they don’t _need_ to be mean, then they can get better!” Frisk didn’t have to say any names for them to know which two brothers Frisk referenced.

“Well…” King Asgore started and then glanced at the table. “Some people left you some gifts, too. Would you like to look at them?”

“Yes, please!” Frisk squeaked and turned their attention on King Asgore again. Queen Toriel gently took the cards away from Frisk, organized them so that they were in a neat stack, and reached over Frisk to set them down on their bedside table again.

The first toy Frisk received was a dragon plush the size of their hand. Its little pink tongue stuck out and button eyes stared at nothing. Frisk giggled and flapped its weak, limp wings. “Aw! Look at you. You’re cute, little guy. What’s your name?” Frisk checked the tag. Or, rather, Flowey did. All it said was the company that made it and the store that sold it. “Hmm… nameless, huh? How about… Draken! Yeah! You like that name?” The dragon’s tongue flickered as Frisk turned it right-side up. Frisk laughed and stuck their tongue out, too, to mimic the stuffed toy. “Who’s he from?” Frisk looked up at them.

Flowey gave them a shy smile. “I, um, got him.”

“Thanks, Flowey!” Frisk purred and hugged the little thing. “He’s adorable!”

King Asgore held out a charm bracelet. Currently, the only thing on there was a tiny badge. “This is from Captain Undyne and Dr. Alphys.”

Captain Undyne nodded. “It’s a charm bracelet. Since you like those, we made you one- with a badge to go on it!”

Frisk gasped and slipped the thing on their wrist. It brushed past the medical band on their wrist. “Oh! It’s so pretty! Thank you so much! It’s such a nice badge.” Flowey squinted his eyes and looked at the small engraving in it. ‘Sacrifice’ was written on it. “Ooooh! That’s so cool!”

Dr. Alphys nodded. “We could not engrave the entire Royal Guard promise in it. So, instead, we set down the attribute you held the most in your actions. It was ‘sacrifice’ as you sacrificed your wellbeing, and even risked your life, for the life of another.”

“It’s what being a member of the Royal Guard is about- protecting citizens, upholding tradition, and defending the monarchy without thought of your own life!” Captain Undyne agreed.

Frisk beamed and held the bracelet tight to their wrist. “Thank you so much! This is awesome!”

The next thing given to them was a hotcat. ‘sans’ was written on a note stuck on the top. Frisk chuckled and looked up at Sans. Lieutenant Papyrus shot a cold glare at Sans. However, upon seeing the amusement on Frisk’s face, he rolled his eyes and shrugged. Sans shrugged. Nothing needed to be said.

King Asgore passed to them a bag. Three fluffy bears, one big with thick fur, one medium with short fur, and one small and fuzzy, were in the bag along with a small, blonde doll. “Aw!” Frisk squeaked. “That’s adorable!” They looked over the girl and the three bears. A note with Lieutenant Papyrus’ and Sans’ name was in the inside. Lieutenant Papyrus had meticulously written the entire story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears in a booklet inside and decorated it just like the cover.

“It’s the entire Goldilocks and the Three Bears story,” Flowey explained.

“Oh, thank you so much! That’s my favorite story!” Frisk purred and hugged the big bear. “Thank you, guys!”

Lieutenant Papyrus puffed out his chest. “OF COURSE! YOU WILL RECEIVE NOTHING LESS THAN PERFECTION, HUMAN!”

King Asgore, smiling, held out a puppy. This one was almost the size of a real puppy, being much bigger than Frisk’s head. It was yellow and shaggy with glassy brown eyes. “You can thank Tori and I for this one.”

“Oh!” Frisk breathed. “Thank you! He’s _huge!_ How’d you find him?”

Queen Toriel chuckled, “Lots of searching. That’s how.”

“Thank you!” Frisk purred and hugged the puppy. “What’s your name, big guy? You know, you look like Samson. That’s going to be your name: Samson.” Frisk nodded with a smirk. “You’re just as big and fluffy and happy looking. Hehe!” Their smiled wavered as the image of their late golden retriever, Samson, came to mind. They shook the thought and squeezed the toy in a tight hug.

Eventually, a nurse came into the room. “I’m very sorry, but I’m going to have to clear the room.”

“What?! Why?” Captain Undyne demanded.

“We’re only allowed to have so many people in here for a set amount of time. I’m sorry. We can only allow one or two close friends or family here, now,” the nurse stated. “It’s for the benefit of the patient. I’m sure you understand.”

Queen Toriel nodded. “We understand. Gorey, I can take over, now. You need your sleep.”

“Oh no, I’m fine,” the king denied. “Really.”

The queen shook her head. “No, no. You’ve been here all day. You need your rest. We’ve had a really big day.”

“What time is it?” Frisk piped up.

“It’s nine at night,” Queen Toriel informed them. “You’ve been asleep a while. King Asgore, please.”

The king sighed and stood up, paperwork in his hand. “Yes, honey. You’re right. We can come back to visit in the morning- before school, if you like.”

“Okay, Dad! Good night!” Frisk waved their hand. “Good night, everyone!”

With that, Frisk’s friends and family–all but their mother and Flowey–left. Frisk set their head back and relaxed. Queen Toriel gently set the bed down into a laying position. “I know you’ve been asleep a while, but you should probably get a bit more sleep,” Queen Toriel suggested. “You’ve had a big day.”

Frisk chuckled. “Yeah. Thank you.” They hugged Samson again. He was very fluffy. “Where’s my coat?”

“I put it in the wash. It’s at home,” Queen Toriel replied. “Don’t worry; I’ll bring it with me once you’re ready to go back home.”

“I’m ready to go home, now!”

“Hehe. Okay. Once the doctors say that you’re ready to go home.”

“Aw, fine.” Frisk shifted so that they were more comfortable. “Thanks for staying with me, Mom. You and Dad are the best parents ever.”

Queen Toriel bit her tongue and brushed her hand over Frisk’s forehead to smooth out their hair. “Anything for you, my child.”

A knock came at the door.

Queen Toriel perked up. “Hello?”

“Hello,” Dogeressa’s voice came in from the other side. “May we come in?”

“Of course! You are very welcome here,” Queen Toriel answered.

The dogi walked in side-by-side. Lesser Dog held Dogeressa’s hand. Greater Dog walked behind them. Doggo followed Dogamy’s hand motions.

The dogs stopped before the foot of the bed. Dogeressa spoke up, “Hello, Pup. We heard of your injury. So, we’ve gotten a few things to help you get better.” She walked around a set a small bowl on the nightstand. They were a few brown balls just like the cold medicine. “This are good for hurt bones- especially growing pups like you.”

She backed off and allowed Dogamy to come forward. He set down a thermos. “Here’s some cinnamon-bark tea. We know you like tea quite a bit, yes?”

Greater Dog bounded forward with a happy bark. A toy bone was set on the table. Lesser Dog yipped and set down a rope with a bone on it. Seeing as the end of the bone Greater Dog gave them was torn at one end, they were probably one toy that had been torn in half.

Doggo set down a stick. “This is, uh, a cane I used as a pup. The end glows red, see?” He held it up and waved it. Two-thirds of the cane sparked red upon getting near to something. “It tells you if you’re getting too close to something- or someone. There’s a button here that makes it vibrate. You know, so I could see it.” He lowered it and propped it against the bed. “It helped me when I was a pup. Thought it’d help you.” He turned and walked past them so that he was behind Dogamy again.

“Thank you!” Frisk squeaked and took a deep breath. “You guys are amazing! Thanks for helping me when I was sick, too.”

Dogeressa smiled. “It’s traditional to help a hurt one. You get better, Pup! We’ll be seeing you out and about soon enough.” With that, the group of royal guard dogs left.

A few moments later, a knock disturbed the door again.

Queen Toriel looked up. “Who’s there?”

“Er… Canny.” Frisk recognized that masculine, young voice. However, they’d never heard it so quiet.

“Canny who?” Queen Toriel prompted.

“Canny come in?” There was a weak chuckle in his voice.

“Yes, come in,” Queen Toriel called.

The door opened. The blonde-haired, blue eyed boy Frisk knew quite well stepped into the room. In his arms was a bag. His eyes were a bit pink. There was no one with him. Queen Toriel’s polite smile vanished. Frisk tipped their head in curiosity.

“H-hey, Frisk,” he mumbled. “It’s me, Billy.” He shuffled his feet and walked around to Frisk’s other side. Chara held out one hand. All but one finger was closed in a fist. Flowey glared at him. “I, uh, got something for you.” He held out the bag for Frisk to take. The young child gently took it from him and drew out the contents. Only one thing was in the bag. It was a small package of monster candy. “I’m, um, sorry. About everything,” Billy confessed. “You… you really saved my life back there. I… I thought I was going to die.” He took a steadying breath. “But then you saved me. E-even when I almost hit you and tried to take your money. Even when I was beating up those monster kids. Even though I’ve been so mean to you and everyone else… you saved my life. You didn’t even think about it. You just… did it. Now you’re here. I’m really sorry.” Frisk looked down at the bag. Billy noticed the action. “I bought that from some monsters who run a convenience store. You know, I’ve never been down that neighborhood before. It’s, uh, actually really nice.”

“Thank you,” Frisk breathed and looked back up at him. “You don’t have to thank me, Billy. I’d do it for anyone. No matter how rude someone is, everyone deserves a bit of mercy- even if no one else thinks so.”

Billy chuckled and rubbed his eyes. “You know, I don’t remember the last time I heard that. I don’t know if I ever had. I’m really sorry about how I treated you guys. Mom said you guys were terrible people and just… not worthy or something. You’re just monsters. But… you just saved my life. I don’t know if bad people can do that. I don’t think I’d have been able to do that. B-but I’ll try. Thank you, Frisk. You’re a good person. I’ll make it up to you.”

Frisk beamed. “That’s so great to hear!”

“Y-yeah. Um, I better get home. Mom still thinks I’m in bed. ’Bye.” Billy turned and shuffled out of the room.

Frisk looked up at their mother with a grand smile. Queen Toriel returned the look. “My child, you will never cease to surprise me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk to the rescue! Billy's getting better. :)


	10. Emotional Spike

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's still winter and the ice and snow surround them. Frisk, in love with the snow and ice and wielding its power, just wants to play.

Frisk, bundled up in the black and gold of their coat, strode through the sidewalk. Flowey bundled up in their coat. Snow turned the city white and silver. Frisk would wince and rub their eyes on occasion at the glare. Otherwise, they traversed the city with ease.

“I can’t wait to get home!” Flowey groaned happily. Clouds puffed before his nose.

Frisk nodded. “Yeah! I bet if we get home early, we can surprise them.”

“What if we get home before them?” Flowey prompted.

“Oh! We’d have to hurry, then!” Frisk purred and sped up their pace. Eventually, their fast walk turned into a trot. Then it became a jog. Finally, Frisk raced down the street, laughing and gasping at the ice that plunged into their lungs with each breath. Chara phased into them. The occasional obstacle came into their limited view. They’d dodge it with ease. That did not last for long, however.

Frisk tripped and hit the ground _hard._ They barked in pain and slid across the sidewalk until they hit a garbage can just outside of an alley. Flowey’s pot cracked and dirt spilled out onto the sidewalk. They whimpered and attempted to get to their hands and knees. Blood, scarlet and full of color, gave morbid life the grays of their environment. Flowey turned to look at Frisk. His eyes grew round in fear. “F-Frisk! What-?!”

Frisk looked up. A shadow hung over them. They shivered and winced in pain. Chara looked between them. _“Go get Mom! Or someone! I’ll stay here.”_ Flowey squirmed onto the cement and vanished into the ground.

“Heh. Monster cowards. You look a bit hurt, sweetheart.” The man knelt beside them. “Hey, your hand is bleeding. I have some bandages in the car.”

Frisk sniffled. They turned their head so that their hair covered their now scarlet eyes as Chara possessed them. “N-no. I-it’s o-okay. My f-friend will h-help me.”

“Oh, I understand,” The man agreed in a gentle tone. “But you’re bleeding! At least let me wash you up a bit first.”

Chara grabbed onto the trashcan and stood up. Hands held close to their chest, they shook their head. “N-no. It’s fine.”

The man’s hand gripped their elbow. His voice was a tad less kind, “Come on, kid. Come with me.” They felt cold- really, really cold.

 _“G-go!”_ Frisk whimpered. _“Go! Go!”_

Chara’s left hand whipped out and grabbed the man’s wrist. He yelped in the pain of frostbite. Panicked, Chara backed away from him- away from their exit. The adrenaline that now pumped through their veins dulled their pain into nonexistence. The man, losing his kind façade, stalked toward them. “Come on, kid.” His voice was rougher, low. Neither Chara nor Frisk liked this.

Chara shook their head, “No! I-I’m w-waiting f-for my f-f-friend! Go away.”

The man growled and lunged for them. Chara jumped and then staggered back. They had to hold onto a pipe to keep themselves steady. Chara’s head hurt. They shook their head and shot a glare at the man. He hesitated upon seeing the red in their eyes. “Go!” they barked. “I-I’m warning you!” The air dropped further in temperature, as if that could be possible. The man’s and the child’s breaths were more pronounced.

The shakiness in their voice calmed the man out of his slight hesitation. “Look, kid. Let’s get this fuss out of the way.”

Chara shook their head and yelped as they tripped over a piece of garbage. They were at the end. They whimpered and curled up into themselves. The can before them crackled as it was crushed. They felt faint. They felt faint. They felt faint. Chara, unable to fight away their own PTSD to aid Frisk any longer, let go. Frisk’s eyes returned to a watery brown. “G-go! Go away!” The man took a step closer. Frisk’s hands curled into fists. “I-I’m warning you! I’m warning you! Go o-or else!”

“Or else what?” The man smirked. The ice crunched nearby. Frisk whipped their hands toward each other so that their arms crossed just above them. The ground and walls _exploded_. Ice spikes exploded from the ground in a semicircle around them. They rose thrice as tall as the man and went in every which direction. The wall in which they were backed up against as well as the adjacent ones bristled with giant white and blue spikes. Impaled debris riddled quite a few of the spikes. No spike ran parallel to another. They all seemed to go in random directions- save for the fact that not one of them faced toward Frisk. All spikes, white and blue, pointed to the world around them. The man, growling and spitting in pain, was pinned to a wall. His shoe on one foot had been shredded. Blood trickled out of it. His tattered clothes were either pinned to the walls or old cans by spikes or spikes that had erupted from the wall or floor beneath him and gone through the clothes that way. Either way, the man was pinned.

Frisk, whimpering and hiccupping, opened their eyes. They held onto their necklace. One of the charms was a Gaster blaster. They pinched the eyes with their thumb and forefinger. The eyes glowed scarlet for a few moments before fading entirely.

“kid…? frisk!” Sans gasped. His tennis shoes brushed the old trash and ice and snow of the alleyway. “frisk what ha…” His eyes found the man. They narrowed considerably. His pupils vanished. Unlike Frisk, who was completely encased in ice and unobtainable by anyone, the man was in just enough spikes to hold him but few enough to allow someone else to get to him. Sans turned to Frisk. His eyes opened and the red lights returned. “hey, kid. it’s me: sans! can you hear me, kid?”

Frisk whimpered and gave a very small nod of their head. They opened their eyes into slits. However, upon seeing the wall of ice, shut them again and curled up into themselves.

“hey, it’s alright, kiddo,” Sans offered in a soothing voice. “i’m here to help. i won’t hurt you. can you hear me, buddy?” Frisk gave a tiny nod and a whimper. “okay, good. that’s very good. now, what you’d done here is make a really good, complex shield structure, which doubles as a trap. i’m pretty surprised, but you are a very talented kid, aren’t you? now, you can do this is smaller scales every day. the ice spikes or snowballs? those are summoned- just like this. now all you have to do is unsummon it. i’m going to tell you how, okay, buddy? we’re going to get you out of this.”

The ice and snow outside was thrown up but a car. Queen Toriel, King Asgore at her side, looked about the sidewalk and then found the alleyway. “Oh my God!” Queen Toriel gasped and raced into the slushy trashy mess that they were in.

“What happened?” King Asgore demanded.

“hush,” Sans demanded in a quiet voice. “frisk got attacked and they summoned a shield. they made a trap, too, to stop their attacker.”

“ _They_ did this?” King Asgore breathed. “This is… astonishing.”

“Who did this?” Queen Toriel growled in a dark tone. Her eyes flashed to the suspended human. Her marron eyes went wild with fury. “ _YOU TRIED TO TOUCH MY CHILD!”_ Her hands blazed with crystal blue light. Fire blazed in the air before her teeth as she literally huffed fire.

King Asgore gripped his wife’s hands. “Hush, dearest. We need to calm down. It’s alright, Frisk. We’re here for you.”

Queen Toriel quenched the flames in her hands and turned to her child. With a shaky breath, she nodded. “We’re here, Frisk. You do not have to fear any longer.”

Sans nodded. “see? your whole family is here. now, this might seem daunting, but it’s easy. just take a deep breath and focus on the spikes between you and me. just like during training. summon a spike, and then let it go, right? remember what we taught you? concentrate on a spike and then let it go. you don’t have to rush. take as much time as you need. just one at a time. okay?”

Frisk took a few deep breathes. They opened one eye and held out a bloodied hand. Sans didn’t flinch at the sight of blood. Queen Toriel’s gaze became colder than the ice she was faced with. The spike Frisk touched disappeared. Sans nodded in encouragement, his smile warm and bright. “that’s it! you’re doing great, kiddo. one at a time.” Frisk glanced up at Sans. A few more between them and Sans disappeared. Eventually, Sans called, “great work, kid! you keep going. now, i’m going to come to you, alright? you stay right there. sans will come to you, okay?” Frisk hesitated but nodded. Another disappeared. Sans carefully picked his way through the tunnel bristling with ice. Sans hesitated on occasion as he came to a place where he couldn’t slide between a few spikes in safety. Frisk would do their best to make the spikes disappear. Eventually, Sans knelt before Frisk and careful gathered the frightened child into his arms. Frisk sniffled and buried their face into his shirt. “i’m here, kid. you got nothin’ to worry about it. take a deep breath. calm down. everythin’s okay.” Frisk’s whimpering turned into sobs. The ice completely melted away. Sans held up a hand, glimmering in scarlet light, behind their back. The man whom attacked them was now pinned to the wall with blue magic.

Queen Toriel rushed to their side and knelt before them. Frisk looked up at Queen Toriel and launched themselves at her. “Oh my child…! You poor thing. Bless you, Sans. _Bless_ you.” Queen Toriel whimpered and picked up her child.

“no prob,” Sans shrugged. “but, uh, if i might take care the trash myself?”

Queen Toriel shot a heated glare at the petrified man. “Sans, you’ve certainly done so much for us. You should take a break. How about some tea?”

King Asgore piped up, “You are a very generous man, Sans. Let’s go home first, Tori. Why don’t we go home and take a shower and then watch a movie? A family night.”

Frisk opened one of their eyes and nodded. “O…. okay…”

The Dreemurr family left, though Queen Toriel couldn’t help but throw glances with more hate than she’d ever held toward the pinned attacker. Sans strolled about so that he stood in front of the man. “tsk, tsk,” Sans sneered and turned his empty gaze up to him. One eye was pitch black. The other glowed with a harsher scarlet light of its own. “hehe… so… you like cornering little kids, huh? hurtin’ ’em? makin’ ’em cry?” The man didn’t speak. Perhaps he couldn’t. He just shook his head wildly. “heh. i don’t know who you think your talkin’ to. frankly, i don’t care. but you just hurt our fallen angel. that’s unforgivable. and we’re not a forgivin’ sort in the first place. but them? they’re a forgivin’ and merciful sort, much more than i am. much more than their mother. do you get what i’m sayin’? heh… buddy… if i didn’t care about what frisk’s opinion of me was…” Sans shut his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets. The man fell to the floor with a heavy _thud._ When Sans opened them again, they were black as the void. “ **You would beg me to kill you.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk's magic is getting stronger. Although they have good control, whenever they get too overwhelmed, it sometimes acts on its own. Chara has bad PTSD concerning threatening men looking to abduct or hurt them. Toriel's a bit off, but she hides it pretty well. Having both of her kids die and then secluding herself in her tiny house for years and years and losing more children to the Underground was maddening, after all. Having Flowey and Frisk and (admittedly) being with Asgore again has helped calm and even bury it. But when her children (or any children, for that matter) are threatened, bad things happen. Luckily, Asgore was there to stop her.


	11. New Title

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Royal Guards host "games" to train young people, even those not going the guard. They teach teamwork, strategy, observation of surroundings, and underline trust, importance of planning, and improvisation.

Frisk crouched in the tree and watched the ground. Flowey, in a tree nearby, glanced up at them. Chara stated, _“Flowey asks if you’re ready.”_

 _“I am,”_ Frisk answered.

 _“Good.”_ Chara sat down next to Frisk. _“I’ll show you where to drop. But you’re going to have to go. I’m only lending you my sight.”_ Frisk gave them a brisk nod. Chara looked up at Frisk. _“On my count, alright? They’ll be here any second so I want you both to be prepared. Oh!”_ They spotted a gray and white bunny stalking through the forest. The eleven-year-old’s ears flicked forward and backward. Tense, he looked about the forest and trees around him. _“Alone…? Hmm… This might work out well for us. Let him walk into the trap.”_

Flowey glanced at them and tipped his head. Chara clarified, _“Once he gets into the trap, he’ll scream for help. That will bring his buddy and more people here.”_ Flowey nodded. He adjusted the net in his vines. Stones weighed down various points in the edge of the large net he held. Frisk held a weighted blanket. Both had cloth and rope loosely tied to each wrist or vine.

The bunny activated the snare beneath one of the trees a few yards away. The kid screamed as he was jerked a good two yards into the air. Both of his weapons, short swords made of wood, were scattered. The bunny swore heartily under his breath and curled up to mess with the trap. The slip knot, tied by Chara, was hard and tight. It would take a sharp object or quite a bit of time and experience to take himself out of the trap. That or he’d need an outside force.

The rabbit’s counterpart, a fuzzy brown bear cub thrice the rabbit’s size, lumbered toward his friend. The rabbit tipped his head back to look at the bear. He sighed in relief. “Good. Cut me free, Griz! Hurry! The trappers are around here somewhere.”

Chara hissed, _“Get ready! Two other kids are around here. The wolves.”_ Indeed, two wolves stalked around the shadows. The two ten-year-old wolf pups circled them. One was black and white like Doggo but had round eyes like the Dogi. A wooden ax was held firm in his grip. He nodded to the bear. The other wolf, slightly smaller with shorter, stark white fur, nodded and, wooden swords close to chest, walked around to the bear’s other side.

“I-I can’t untangle this,” the bear stated.

“Well then cut it!” the rabbit hissed. “Or lift me up. I’m sure I can loosen it up enough to slip out. There’s also- look out!”

The bear whipped around and swung his fist. The white wolf yelped and staggered back. She dropped her weapon and set her paw to her muzzle. Whimpering and whining, she looked up at the bear with round, watery eyes. This caused the bear to hesitate. The bear hadn’t hit the wolf pup _that_ hard, if at all. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t be phased. However, these were no normal circumstances.

“BEHIND YOU!” the bunny cried. The wolf’s brother pounced on the bear’s back and, snarling and snapping, shoved the bear into the dirt.

The girl wiped her eyes and, laughing, brought out a pile or curled up rope. Though the bear cub struggled, the two wolf pups were too much of a match. The bear was tied to the tree. The bunny dangled just out of sight. The white wolf held up a paw. “Hehe. Nice job, bro!”

The black and white wolf fist bumped her. “Nice job, sis!”

 _“Go!”_ Chara hissed and phased into Frisk. The black and white wolf popped into their vision. Frisk dropped from the tree and pinned the larger wolf. He went down with a startled yelp. However, the rope tied around his muzzle prevented him from speaking. Frisk stood back and allowed the wolf pup to tangle himself further in the net. Flowey dropped to the ground. The white wolf pup had been tied up, too. The flower threw away their weapons and helped Frisk drag the pups to different trees to tie them up.

The bunny sighed, “You set this snare, didn’t you?”

Flowey gagged the bunny and nodded. “Yep!”

Flowey, once Chara tied the bunny’s arms and legs, loosened the snare. Once Chara let go, Frisk looked over the bunny. “I hope your head feels better. That was a nasty fall.”

The bunny flattened his ears and twitched his nose. Otherwise, he didn’t respond or struggle once he was tied up to a tree. Frisk darted away. Flowey sank into the earth. Eventually, Frisk found their way back into the trees above their prisoners. Flowey in a bush nearby. They were well hidden enough not be seen by them.

A horn was blown. Frisk dropped to the ground by their prisoners and straight up straight, chest puffed out and eyes bright in excitement. Flowey appeared by their side. Frisk took a whistle out of their pocket and blew on it. A bird-fish monster appeared from the forest. He clucked his beak as he inspected the work done. “Sugabun, Wolfa, and Fido? Stay here.” The bird turned and ran off into the forest.

Chara snickered, _“Man! This is awesome! Our first game!”_

Frisk bit their tongue and nodded. Flowey chuckled. “Calm down! You look about ready to bite your tongue off!”

Frisk took a deep breath. “Sorry.” They chuckled and rocked back on their heels.

Eventually, Captain Undyne strolled in. The fish-bird, Lieutenant Papyrus, and a lizard arrived, all holding clipboards and pens. Frisk and Flowey both stood up straight and stared up at them with round, flat eyes. They tried their best to smother the pride and joy and nervousness they both felt. Captain Undyne prompted, “Flowey and Frisk? You two caught these people?”

Frisk nodded. “Yes. We trapped them.”

“How?”

Flowey waved to the place where the snare had been. “We set that snare down and waited up in the trees. The rabbit tripped it and screamed. That caused his bear partner to run in to help. Then these two wolves showed up. The girl wolf distracted the bear while the boy wolf captured him. Then we trapped the wolves in the net and tied them up.”

Lieutenant Papyrus glanced at the bear and then Captain Undyne. Captain Undyne glanced back. “Do you have something to say, Lieutenant Papyrus?”

Lieutenant Papyrus gave her a curt nod. “YES, CAPTAIN. FRISK! YOU CLAIMED TO HAVE CAUGHT ‘THESE PEOPLE’. THAT IMPLIES ALL OF THEM. FLOWEY JUST CLAIMED THE WOLVES CAUGHT THE BEAR. EXPLAIN YOURSELF.”

Frisk nodded. They started to speak but hesitated. They couldn’t speak. Perhaps it was their racing heart tinged with panic that prevented them from speaking what was on their mind. Chara possessed them. Their eyes glowed scarlet. Chara nodded. “Yes! Under normal circumstances, I’d claim the wolves as the capturers. However, the bear himself was a trap for the wolves, which led them to being caught.” Frisk’s eyes faded to brown. “Of course, they did technically tie him down, but we both caught and attracted them.”

Lieutenant Papyrus turned to Captain Undyne. She looked to the other two. “Anything? Good. Flowey, Frisk: untie the other two teams and return the equipment. Then: meet us back at the stage.” Captain Undyne turned and moved in a deliberate direction to the left of them. Lieutenant Papyrus and the two other adults were with them.

Chara possessed Frisk and aided them in untying the black and white wolf and rabbit. “Hehe! You guys are really cool!”

The black and white wolf bared his teeth in a smile. “Well! Guess we shouldn’t go boasting before the ending horn.”

“True,” his sister agreed and gathered up their scattered weapons.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Griz the bear cub prompted.

The girl shook her head. “No! I was just acting. Thanks for checking on me!”

The rabbit picked up the last of the rope. “Yep. That was fun I can’t _wait_ to see the results.”

The girl wolf huffed, “Now don’t be a sore loser!”

Frisk nodded. “I’m sure you did fine. You just need to check the ground twice. I’m sure I’d have made the same mistake.”

“Yeah, well, you’re blind,” the rabbit pointed out in a flat tone. “So, you know, no one cares if you screw up.”

Frisk’s smile vanished. “I’m trying to be helpful.”

Flowey huffed, “Frisk’s just being nice. They don’t _have_ to be.”

“Whatever.” The bunny turned and stalked off toward the stage. Griz threw an apologetic grimace back at them and followed as quickly as he could. Frisk, ropes and nets gathered tight in their arms, walked with Flowey in a pot in their arms and the wolves back to the stage, which was at the center of their plot of land.

“Sorry about them,” the girl wolf stated. “That rabbit’s always been a sore loser.”

“He was never any fun to play with,” the boy wolf agreed.

“That stinks.” Frisk pouted and stared ahead, as if they could see anything in the first place. “How many rounds are we playing?”

“Three more I think,” the girl wolf replied. “But I don’t know for sure. The Royal Guard oversees it.”

Frisk nodded. “Okay. This is so fun!”

The boy wolf nodded. “Yeah! Heh. Guess we’ll have to start watching the trees, now, too.”

Frisk nodded. “Mhm! People don’t look up. People always think to look behind them. But no one thinks to look up. That was a really cool feign you did.”

The girl wolf smiled. “Thanks! It never worked back before the surface. But, people take more pity on me when I look at them like that.”

Frisk nodded. “The puppy eyes almost always work. Literally.”

The two wolf pups laughed. Flowey snickered, “You’d know, Frisky!”

Frisk huffed, “That’s not my name, Wish flower!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk and Flowey really love these games. With Chara on their side, they're actually pretty good. In the beginning games, you team up with friends/family/people you know. Griz and Sugabun don't really know each other, but are paired together. Next time, they're not going to be put together with each other. :D


	12. Teacher's Homework

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teachers have homework, too.

Sans sat down at the kitchen table. A whole few stacks of paper along with a few books, his phone, and his scarlet pen were before him. Dr. Alphys had a similar pile before her about a seat away. Queen Toriel had significantly less paperwork and thinner books but was otherwise going through what the two other teachers did.

Captain Undyne appeared in the doorway, Frisk held under her arm like a stuffed animal, plopped down between Dr. Alphys and Sans. Dr. Alphys gasped and let go of her pen. Sans shot a dark look at Captain Undyne before going back to his work. “Captain Undyne!” Dr. Alphys gasped and straightened herself out. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

“Checkin’ up on you,” Captain Undyne answered with a toothy grin. “How’s the homework? Frisk just completed theirs’!”

“O-oh it’s doing w-well,” Dr. Alphys replied and looked back down. “I’m just finishing up these reports. M-my students just finished up their reports over the difference between two different s-soul energies. I found that the most common involves Determination and Bravery. The next unit will be more in depth studying over the t-types of souls.”

Frisk, still held by Captain Undyne, prompted, “Can you tell what souls they have?”

Dr. Alphys nodded. “Yes. But I cannot know just by looking at them. We will have an exercise next unit that will show different s-souls. Souls of determination are very rare. S-so if you ever want to v-volunteer, you can.”

Frisk brightened. “Oh! That would be so fun! Okay! Is that okay, Mom?”

Queen Toriel looked up from her work. “Frisk shouldn’t be missing any school. If they must, it should be very important.”

“I-I can make it an optional lesson, one I can hold in a theater after all other classes are closed and Frisk is out of school,” Dr. Alphys replied. “B-but only if that’s alright with you.”

“I’ll come with you if you take Frisk. As long as they are out of school and it’s not too close to dinner, it is alright with me.” Queen Toriel turned back to her paperwork.

Dr. Alphys returned to her paperwork. “Thank you, Frisk. You are very kind. I am quite surprised that you do not hold a soul of Kindness. It’s possible to assess a human’s soul without looking at it, but it’s only a rough estimation. Sometimes, it can be incorrect. For example, if I didn’t know any better, I would think you have a soul of Kindness. But that is not true. You are Determination. It is still a tricky process.”

“Can souls change?” Frisk prompted.

“Hmm?” Dr. Alphys prompted. “Change? How so?”

“I mean, can a soul be something like Bravery but change in Justice over time?” Frisk prompted.

Dr. Alphys hesitated. “It is extremely unlikely. A person is born with the soul they will have for the rest of their life. You can have a soul of Bravery, but develop a deep sense of justice when you grow up. But you will still be of Bravery. Does this make sense? But you… your theory sounds interesting. I will have to look into this further.” Dr. Alphys took out her phone, typed in a quick few words, and then turned it off again. “You are an interesting child with promise. If only there was a way to go back in time… anyway, I must get back to this. I am sorry.”

“Okay!” Frisk purred. “Good luck!”

“What about you, Sans?” Captain Undyne prompted and looked over his shoulder. “What’s that?”

“advanced astrophysics,” Sans answered in a simple tone of voice. “i’m just grading some reports.”

“Advanced Astrophysics…? Well, okay.” Captain Undyne shrugged. “Well! We’re going out with Lieutenant Papyrus! We’ll be back by dinner!”

“Six!” Queen Toriel called. “You’ll be back here by six. Don’t hold Frisk like that!”

“Got it, Queen Dreemurr!” Captain Undyne saluted her, moved Frisk so that they were on her shoulders, and raced away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a normal day. Nothing special.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk said that they'd help Dr. Alphys out at college by making them an example. School is over and Dr. Alphys' extra credit lesson is starting!

Frisk stood next to Dr. Alphys and Sans. Flowey was in their backpack, which was slung over their shoulders. Sans, hands in his pockets, looked about. Dr. Alphys meddled with some wires, machines, and papers at her desk. Students of all grades filed into the classroom. As they came in, they would scribble something down on a sheet of paper by the entrance. It was large with stands like bleachers at a ballgame. As people filed in, they talked and laughed and looked about. A few stared at Frisk and then talked to others. Others would glance at Frisk and talk back. As Frisk couldn’t see this, they contented themselves to rocking on their heels.

Sans waved and smirked at the surprise they showed. Most waved back with a bit of enthusiasm. Flowey looked between Sans and the class. “You’re popular?”

“I’m the cool teacher,” Sans answered.

Eventually, Dr. Alphys’ alarm rang loud and clear. She tapped it to turn it off. “Class!” The classroom went completely silent. Dr. Alphys looked over the room. “Everyone who signed their name on that sheet will receive extra credit on the next test. If you neglected to sign the sheet, you may do so now.” No one stood up. “Good. We are going to be going over the powers and energies of different types of souls and how they reflect personality. Someone tell me what types of known souls exist.” Someone near the front raised her hand. “Ms. Denris? Answer.”

Mary Denris stated, “Determination, Perseverance, Justice, Bravery, Patience, Kindness, and Integrity.”

Dr. Alphys nodded. “That is correct. Who may name their common colors? Mr. Wilmot?”

Adam Wilmot stated, “Determination is red. Perseverance is purple. Justice is gold. Bravery is orange. Patience is cyan. Kindness is green. Integrity is deep blue.”

“Correct. What is the most common soul trait in monsters?” Dr. Alphys prompted. “Ms. Adam?”

Alex Adam answered, “Bravery is the most common trait.”

“Yes. What percentage of monsters specialize in determination?” Dr. Alphys prompted. “Mr. Berry?”

Mark Berry replied, “That’s a trick question, Doctor. Monsters can’t handle determination.”

“Very good.” Dr. Alphys glanced at Frisk. “Now, here is Frisk Dreemurr- ambassador of the monsters. They have a very powerful soul of determination. What is the simplest way to determine a human’s soul trait? Mr. Powall?”

Jack Powall answered, “The simplest way to determine a humans’ soul trait to see the color of their soul.”

Dr. Alphys nodded. “Yes. And how would another human be able to do that, Mr. Powall?”

Jack hesitated. “I… do not know, Doctor.”

Dr. Alphys clicked her tongue. “They cannot. That is because humans cannot draw out the soul of another human neither can they draw out a soul of a monster. You see, a monster cannot draw out the soul of a monster, but can see the soul of a human. Someone state two ways to do so. Ms. Green?”

Ally Green stated, “If a human ends up in a fight with a monster, their soul will be drawn out to give the monster a focus of attack and the human a focus of defense. A second way is to ‘check’ the status of a soul.”

“Correct. Is there a way for a human to check the soul of a fellow human? …anyone? I explained this in our lesson last week. Mrs. Adam! Explain.”

Marian Adam answered, “Machines. You monsters have created special machines to check the status of a soul as well as _all_ of the major attributes. There are some portable machines that can check its level of determination.”

“Quite,” Dr. Alphys agreed. “Now, Frisk Dreemurr, as I’ve said, has the most potent amount of determination we’ve ever recorded. Prior to our escape, they were the youngest we’ve ever tested. After living on the surface for eight months, we have gotten plenty of volunteers. While most monsters are quite similar in their souls, humans have proven to be much more diverse. Can anyone give me an educated guess on which trait is most common? …Ms. King.”

Ivy King straightened herself out. “Humans are very diverse in culture, color, and personality. But I believe that Justice may be the greatest.”

“And why is that?” Dr. Alphys prompted.

Ivy paused. “Er- plenty of our greatest actions are based on our sense of justice. Entire movements have been created with justice in mind.”

Dr. Alphys shook her head. “Do not confuse justice with vengeance. The most popular soul trait we’ve found is perseverance, though bravery has come very close in second. Now, class, you may come to the front. Leave your things at your desk lest you crowd. Do not crowd us.” Immediately, students got up and shuffled forward so that they were in the area between the front row of desks and the front wall. “Now, Frisk!” Dr. Alphys turned to the young child.

“Yes?” Frisk tipped their head to the side to look at Dr. Alphys. She was a blur of white and yellow in a whole confusing mess of color. They could only judge her position by her voice.

“Stand still.” Dr. Alphys set her hand on Frisk’s chest and drew out their soul. It glowed in a bright red light. Frisk could see it in perfect clarity.

Chara set their hand on Frisk’s shoulder. _“Want me to mess with them?”_

 _“Later,”_ Frisk thought back. _“But Dr. Alphys is teaching.”_

“Now, _this_ is a soul of Determination,” Dr. Alphys stated. “A soul’s vibrancy will betray the soul’s strength. Frisk has a very strong soul and thus has a bright glow. Does everyone notice this? Good. Now, a soul _can_ be manipulated using a special type of magic. There are different magics based on color. Yellow, blue, purple, and green are the most popular. Mettaton and I both has the power of _yellow_ magic. Dr. Ga-” Dr. Alphys was cut off by Sans’ cough. “Dr. _Sans_ and his brother, Lieutenant Papyrus, have the power of blue magic. Captain Undyne has the power of green magic. Ms. Muffet of the Spider Bakery in the southern part of town has the power of purple magic. As Captain Undyne and Ms. Muffet are unable to join us at this time, Dr. Sans and I will have to demonstrate. Are you ready, Frisk?”

Frisk nodded. “Yep!”

“Good.” Dr. Alphys flicked her fingers, which sparked in yellow energy. Frisk’s soul flipped upside down and turned a sunny yellow. Frisk tipped their head. “Yellow magic is a sort of… boost to a soul. It allows a soul to let out a small burst of power in a form of its own attack.” Frisk’s soul turned red. “Dr. Sans?”

“Sure thing, Doc.” Sans didn’t even raise his hand. Frisk’s soul turned blue and heavy. A sudden cold rushed through them.

“Blue magic is very different,” Dr. Alphys explained. “It weighs down a soul, meaning that the person’s agility is severely limited. Their soul is also open to manipulation.” She glanced at Sans. He let go of Frisk’s soul so that it turned red. “Dr. Sans?” she prompted.

Sans shrugged. “Sorry, Doc. Frisk gets scared when I do that.”

“Humph.” Dr. Alphys narrowed her eyes. Frisk’s soul vanished into their chest. She turned back to the class. “Well, the controller is able to manipulate the soul of the person affected. This means that Dr. Sans and Lieutenant Papyrus have the power to turn a soul blue and then move it using their will alone. Or they could keep the soul still. This magic has the most manipulation and power over a soul. Green magic, on the other hand, is quite similar but vastly different at the same time. Green magic forces the soul to stay in place. The victim is unable to move from their spot if their soul is green. Purple magic is… different. As we have only ever seen Muffet use it, we’ll have to go off her use of it. It forces the person affected to stay ensnared in her web but move at the same time.” Dr. Alphys took a deep breath. “Now. If I could get a volunteer up here…? Very good, Ms. Green.”

Dr. Alphys took a step back as the girl, much taller than Dr. Alphys but lanky like Lieutenant Papyrus, stopped before her. “Ms. Green: are you comfortable having magic use on you? Be honest. You will not receive negative consequences if you say no.”

“N-no.”

“Will you allow me to show your soul?”

“Yes.”

Dr. Alphys set her hand on Mrs. Green’s chest and drew it back. A soul, glowing in soft cyan light, appeared before her chest. “You have a soul of Patience. That is a good trait to possess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk is a very strong soul of determination. After their fight with Sans, they're scared of blue magic being used on them.


	14. Monster Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk is curious- are monster souls like human souls?

Sans, book in his hands and glasses taped to his face, sat on the couch in the Dreemurr’s quiet living room. The house was nearly empty, now. One of its occupants sat in the living room reading. Another quietly baked a pie in the kitchen. The front door opened to reveal the third, and last, soul in the house.

Frisk carefully shut the door behind them. Flowey looked about from the backpack Frisk wore. The kid skipped into the living room. Sans glanced up. “heya, kid.”

Frisk perked up and stopped. “Hey, Sans! What’s up?” They changed course so that they could sit on the couch next to Sans. Flowey’s backpack was set next to them.

“readin’. how about you?”

Frisk shrugged. “I just got back from school. Nothing really happened. What’s it over?”

Sans glanced down at the book in his hands. “nothin’ really. it’s just something to pass the time. dr. alphys gave it to me. heh it’s one of the few books she has that’s not about souls.”

Frisk nodded. “Because she studies and teaches everyone about them, right? Do you know much about them?”

“yes, i do,” Sans answered. “nothing too big; i’m not dr. alphys. but i do know a bit about them. what, did you have a question or somethin’?”

Frisk perked up. “Oh! I didn’t know that. But, uh… Sans? Why can’t we see monster souls?”

Sans thought for a moment. “well… it’s simple. when you get into a fight, human souls are showed when in a fight with a monster. but monster souls aren’t that strong, as you know. but you can see a monster soul. they can’t exist outside the body like a human soul can, but if the monster wishes to, they can show it.”

“Oh okay.” Frisk nodded. “I didn’t know how that worked. When Flowey returned everyone’s souls, I didn’t expect them to be silver and upside down. I thought they’d be different colors- like human souls.”

Sans shook his head. “nope. monster souls and human souls are different. humans are similar to one another on the outside. monsters are unique on the outside. human souls are unique to one another while monster souls are not. but we still have our differences.”

“Like how?” they prompted.

“heh. well, big monsters, like king Asgore or queen toriel, have very big souls. smaller monsters, like me or dr. alphys, have smaller souls.”

Frisk nodded. “That makes sense. When I got hurt Underground, my soul would crack and it would shatter. Do monster souls do that?”

Sans hesitated. “…in a way. you see, monster souls can’t be attacked like human souls. however, damage is dealt in a different way. if you went through something emotionally traumatic, your soul would stay whole. but if you went through something physically traumatic, then your soul would crack. monsters, on the other hand, are opposite. physical harm to our bodies won’t affect the soul, but emotional harm will. human and monster souls are fixed differently, too. a human needs their body to heal their soul. a monster needs their mind to heal to repair their soul.”

Frisk looked at their feet. “Oh. That’s terrible. So, if a monster is sad…?”

Sans nodded. “if a monster gets physically killed or if they are heartbroken, a monster will turn to dust. funny to think about that, huh? one of the reasons monsters are so fierce. if you _can’t_ get hurt, you can’t die. but you can’t be joyful, either. you sure showed us differently, though.” He chuckled.

Frisk smiled. “Yeah. I really hope people stay happy. You guys deserve it.” A sudden thought crossed over their mind. Before they could think over their words, they prompted, “Can I see your soul?” They bit their tongue.

Sans smirked. “you’re a curious kid. most monsters don’t like doing that, just like most humans. so, i would refrain from askin’. but… i guess if i have to.” Sans chuckled again to bring back Frisk’s smile. It worked. He set one hand on his chest and drew it out. A soul, just about as big as Frisk’s but upside down and silver, hovered in his hand. It glowed in a very dull silver light. Cracks and fractures cut deep into it. Most were small or scarred while others were still deep. Frisk could see his soul in clarity. Frisk made a small whining noise and their smile disappeared. “don’t be so down, kiddo! it was worse before you found us, believe me.” He smirked and set his hand on his chest. The glow died.

“Worse?” Frisk prompted.

Sans nodded. “yeah. we, uh… lived an interesting life before going to snowdin. things only got better there. but being up on the surface, joining the king and queen and their new kid- it’s been great. it’s been great for me and for everyone else.”

“What about Lieutenant Papyrus? He’s happier, too, right?” Frisk prompted.

Sans nodded. “yeah. he isn’t as scarred as me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nope. This was just a little thing I made a while ago, a theory. A monster's soul runs on their happiness and emotion. So could a monster die not of physical wounds, but of emotional instability? One of the reasons Dr. Alphys is so cold and analytical is because if she allows herself to feel too much, the guilt and horror of what she's done to other monsters would literally kill her. Since the King and Queen has much tougher and more resilient souls, and the willpower needed to run their country, they didn't die when their children passed.
> 
> This is also probably the last short I'll make concerning SurfaceFell. I made this months ago, right around when I was writing the climax for "Fallen Under" (you can find here: https://archiveofourown.org/series/615394) And I just don't really hav eto motivation to write any more of Undertale. I still love Undertale, it's just I've been too drained to write more.

**Author's Note:**

> No set schedule. Just whenever.


End file.
